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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2e09b06 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #51771 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51771) diff --git a/old/51771-0.txt b/old/51771-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 9c22dbe..0000000 --- a/old/51771-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4609 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Trail of the Elk, by Mikkjel Fonhus - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Trail of the Elk - -Author: Mikkjel Fonhus - -Illustrator: Harry Rountree - -Release Date: April 15, 2016 [EBook #51771] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAIL OF THE ELK *** - - - - -Produced by Giovanni Fini, Donald Cummings, Bryan Ness and -the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive/American -Libraries.) - - - - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: - -—Obvious print and punctuation errors were corrected. - - -[Illustration] - - - The Trail of the Elk - -[Illustration: THE RÉ VALLEY SWEDE] - - The Trail of the Elk - - _from the Norwegian of_ H. Fonhus - _illustrated by_ Harry - Rountree - -[Illustration] - - - Jonathan Cape - Eleven Gower Street, London - - - - - _First published 1922_ - - _All Rights Reserved_ - - - - - The Trail of the Elk - -[Illustration] - - - - -The Trail of the Elk - - -§ 1 - -THIS is the story of a wizard elk—Rauten, as people called him. He was -a human being in animal guise. - -The story begins in Ré Valley, which lies like a yawning gap between -mountains, long and flat with borders of forests so dark that they look -as though part of the blackness of night lingered in them. A river -moves sluggishly along the bottom of the valley, making its way slowly -and carefully between stretches of light-red sand. It runs northwards, -a rare thing in Norway. - -There are bogs along the banks of the river, bearing tall, stiff sedge, -and when the weather is calm they appear to be bristling. But in -sunshine and wind they sway to and fro like undulating carpets of silk. -Sometimes a long neck appears, and a crane moves with his measured -stride, in which there is peace and contentment. For the crane does not -trouble himself about the past or the future. The present with its -long round of days suffices for him. - -An ancient mountain farm lies there with its fence all tumbled down. -The thin pasture is covered here and there with copses. The houses rot -and are never rebuilt. At one time bears were so troublesome round -about Tolleiv Mountain Farm that it was impossible to remain there, and -even to-day it often happens, especially in the autumn, that a bear is -seen feeding on berries far up the mountain side. - -But in the spring, life seethes in all the animals of the valley. -The capercailzie stretches his neck, shuts his eyes, and hisses -passionately towards the sunrise. Each night is a time of fierce -unrest. Wings flap, claws tear and rend, and slavering rows of teeth -snarl angrily at each other in the purple moonlight. Above the forests -the Ré Mountains rise like white swans. - - -§ 2 - -It was in the summer-time a good many years ago. On the slopes between -Svart Mountain at the upper end of Ré Valley there might have been seen -an elk with her calf. The strange feature of the calf was that it had -lost half one of its ears. I will tell you later on how this happened. -The calf was born amongst the patches of hard snow below the region -where the snow melts in spring, and at the time of which we write -he was still quite small. But as by degrees the weeks passed by he -developed gristle, he gained in bulk, marrow formed in his bones, and -he grew heavy. That calf was bound to grow into a giant elk if only he -were allowed time enough. - -[Illustration] - -Even the elk oxen with their seven-tined antlers, who scrub the young -trees in Ré Valley, were once young calves like this. - -He is feeding from his mother; the warm milk, trickling slowly from her -body into his, gives him his first sensation of pleasure. Consciousness -grows clear just as the clouds roll away and leave the blue sky above -him. He gains his first notions of time, which is made up of light and -darkness. He learns that still water is silent, and that running water -makes a sound, and may lick his legs as with wet and cool tongues—and -that when the wind rises the trees wail like young fox cubs. He also -learns how to distinguish the shrill call of the hawk and falcon that -hover beneath the sky like shivering leaves. At night countless little -eyes gleam from the vault above him; they are stars. But stars may -gleam even from dark copses and gullies, from marten and from fox, from -all the animals that rise when the sun sets. - -The nights of midsummer draw their soft veil over the valley, and the -glaciers, forgotten and abandoned in the mountains, light their shining -silvery lamps. Deep down in the Gipsy Pond a golden cloud has gone to -rest like a pyre in the night, a sacrificial fire to the god of peace -and loneliness. And above its flames the leaves of the waterlilies -sway on the face of the water like great green hearts. Some days bring -thunder and lightning, as if the heavens would be rent asunder, and -after the storm the sun gleams on showers of rain trailing over the -mountains like dew-wet shimmering cobwebs. - -But on autumn nights the earth seems to be wrapped up in a golden -fleece and the moon glares from the sky like a yellow eye. - -About this time the elks of Ré Valley grow strangely restless. Old -bulls stand snorting against the wind, and they may be observed to veer -round for nothing more than the fresh tracks of a man. What ails them? -They do not know. But here and there spoors of dog and man form, as it -were, zones of terror across the wilderness. - -There they go, the man and his dog, across the bogs along the Ré River, -where tufts of dying dwarf birch lie blood-red like open wounds. The -man and his dog walk for an hour. They go on for another hour. - -The man is short and compactly built, and people never call him -anything but Gaupa (The Lynx). His beard is long, dark, and bristling -like lichen. His eyes have almost the same colour as his beard, and -they are so piercing and cold that a glance from them seems to give -physical pain, and so small that they appear to be on the point -of disappearing. Around the left corner of his mouth the skin is -everlastingly twitching; it started years before when he was a lad, but -it still goes on whether he is awake or asleep. - -Gaupa wears grey homespun, with real silver buttons on his waistcoat. -The buttons gleam in the sun, becoming in their turn tiny shining suns. -Over his shoulder hangs his rifle, which he has named the “Tempest” and -the dog he leads is large, dark and shaggy, and his name is “Bjönn” -(The Bear). - -Gaupa does not walk like other people, he is always half on the run. -When his path is barred by a fallen tree or such like he does not -stride across it, he jumps. He seems to be in incredible haste, and yet -few people have more time to spare. - -Wherever he goes he reads the signs before him. A bog to him is a -written page, a short story written by the animals themselves with -their hoofs or claws. There is the spoor of an elk, but somewhat old, -for dry weather has fallen in and the grass has straightened itself. -Bjönn puts his nose to it, but remains indifferent. - -And the man and his dog walk on and on. - -Late in the day a rumble is heard from the Ré Mountains, long and -heavy. The lesser mountains catch the sound and send it on. It floats -along the slopes from one side to the other till it dies away behind a -shady hill far to the south. One might imagine it was Silence itself -moving only to listen for more. And throughout the valley startled elks -raise their heads. That is how things were when the shot cracked. - -The warm evening sun glows on a pine-clad hillock on the western slope. -Moss grown rocks take a deeper tint. Two elks come running out of the -forest, a cow and a calf. A shaggy deer-hound follows, his dripping -tongue lolling. The cow starts walking again, but stops as if suddenly -remembering that there is no longer any hurry. She sways a little and -nearly falls, but regains her balance. Her flanks work furiously and -with each breath golden-red clouds emerge from her nostrils, falling -like a red rain on the little calf frisking before her. He seems to be -ruddy all over his back from his mother’s breath. - -Standing thus the cow begins to nod her head. Her eyes are moist, -shiny, living, like mirrors catching the picture of the little calf -before her—oh, so clearly, as if they would fain take the memory of him -away with them far away into the land of shadows. - -In a little while she falls on one side, felling a young pine with -her weight, and now the animal has no more soul than a tree-stump, a -monstrous heap of flesh and bones devoid of life. - -Bjönn follows the calf, baying deeply. After a while he is heard once -more, more shrill and eager. Then once again the evening sun throws a -peaceful glow over the pine-clad hill. The huge grey heap on the moss -does not move. - -Very soon Gaupa is there; he leans his rifle against a tree and draws -his knife, and whistles softly, coaxingly, for Bjönn. - - -§ 3 - -It is night, and cloudy weather; no stars twinkle coldly over the Ré -Mountains. Outside a tiny wooden hut on the eastern banks of Gipsy -Lake Gaupa stands, his hands covered with blood. The tree-tops crowd -together against a background of cloudy sky, and somewhere in the -western mountain a brook murmurs. - -Gaupa is bareheaded and his hair is raven black. With his hand on the -door handle he stops suddenly in the act of entering. Was there a -sound in the silent darkness? He thought he heard something, but could -not decide from which direction it came. Yes—there it is, quite clear -now. From somewhere up in Black Mountain a strange animal cry reaches -his ears. It is not a bear or fox—it is most of all like a despairing -moan of a human being. Icy waves seem to run down his spine. He remains -immovable, listening for more cries from the Black Mountain. But -nothing more is heard and the man enters his hut, locking the door. - -Soon after he is outside again, listening. But there is nothing to be -heard, and he re-enters the hut. - -The Gipsy Lake Hut is cosy and warm. The roaring stove devours the -logs, and from the draught-hole in the iron stove door a light steals -out to flit in ever-changing play over the timber walls. Gaupa and -Bjönn lie on the bed side by side, the dog barking in his sleep once in -a while. - -For a long time nothing is heard but the deep contented muttering from -the stove. - -Then Gaupa rises with a start and sits immovable. - -“There it is again,” he thinks. But soon he sees clearly that no animal -cry could possibly have reached him from the Black Mountain through -those walls of timber. - -He understands what animal it was that uttered the cry. It was the elk -calf whose mother he had killed. Now that poor mite was searching the -wood calling upon his mother. Gaupa had heard such calves in distress -call often enough, but the cry from the Black Mountain that night made -him shiver. No ordinary elk calf could wail like that. - -Gaupa lay down again. Sleep had left him, and strange memories visited -him instead. - -Some ten to twelve years before a half-demented old Swede roamed about -in Ré Valley. People called him the Ré Valley Swede. For two whole -summers he wandered about with a divining rod and a pickaxe, looking -for the Ré Valley treasure. According to an ancient old legend, seven -pack-horses loaded with church plate passed up the Valley at the time -of the Black Death. Four men led them. When they reached the bogs near -the Tolleiv Mountain Farm, the plague overtook the men. They had barely -the strength to bury the silver, before they lay down to die with the -name of Our Lady on their lips. - -This treasure lived like a ghost in the imagination of the people. -Somewhere in the Ré Valley lay the plate, that much was certain. When -the half-witted old Swede heard of it he commenced haunting the Ré -Valley from end to end. He used his pickaxe diligently enough. Every -wound in the bogs bore traces of his exertions. - -Thus he went on one whole Summer. During the Winter he went -timber-cutting in the lower valley, but Spring saw him in Ré Valley -once more wielding his divining rod and his pickaxe untiringly. - -People met him when they happened to pass that way. At times he was -starved to the point of exhaustion; but when they gave him to eat of -the food they carried, the old Swede grew strong and full of energy -once more. He would half bury his pickaxe in the earth, then straighten -his huge body, saying: “To-day I am as poor as a church mouse. But -to-morrow I shall be as rich as the King at Stockholm.... I am pretty -certain of the treasure now.” - -And his voice, which began in a deep bass, would rise upwards to the -shrillest falsetto. - -Once some lads placed a few bits of an old stove in a pit where the -Swede was digging. He found them, and the next day he went home to the -Lower Valley delirious with joy. When he understood that it was not the -real Treasure after all, he wept like a child, but went straight back -to Ré Valley and resumed his digging. - -The Ré Valley Swede suffered from epilepsy. Sometimes when he reached -the summer mountain farms he fell down in a fit. Therefore people -either expected some day to find him dead up in the lonely valley or -else never to see him again. - -During the third summer of the mad Swede’s digging Gaupa stayed near -Gipsy Lake fishing. One night he took his road northwards across -Ré River. A few stars twinkled. A glacier shimmered in the Western -Mountains, long and narrow like a white bird with wings outstretched. -Gaupa moved slowly, slowly northwards along the River. - -Towards morning he observed a light coming from a small pine-covered -mound, and he went to investigate. A few sparks flew up, and the pine -needles were still pink in the glow from a burning log. - -He heard a noise, the loud though not unmusical sound of iron on stone, -and he thought, “There is the Swede.” - -A moment later he saw him. He was bent towards the earth, digging, and -Gaupa could not help thinking of a bear digging his winter shelter, -just as he had seen one some years before about Michaelmas time. Gaupa -advanced and the Swede straightened himself, his face streaming with -perspiration. - -Gaupa greets him with “Evening.” “Now I shall soon have the Treasure,” -mutters the Swede. “It is in here, and to-morrow I shall be a rich man, -as rich as the King at Stockholm.” - -Then he tells his tale, how the night before he was sitting on the -slope resting, when he suddenly saw a tiny blue light moving along the -banks of Ré River, bounding along till at last it stopped at the mound, -where he saw as it were a bluish shimmer for a long time, much like a -firefly on a summer night. He at once understood that this was a sign -to him. He went round the mound with the cleft birch wand, and when -he reached the spot where he was then digging an invisible hand seemed -to pull the wand downwards, until it seemed to writhe in his hands, -pointing to earth like a finger. - -Gaupa saw that there was a small cellar where the Ré Valley Swede had -been digging, with reddish sandy soil and small round stones heaped up -round about. Gaupa gave the old man food, which he wolfed down like a -starving dog, but he had no time for rest, for as he said, when the sun -rises, it will sparkle on the Ré Valley Treasure, which has not been -exposed to the light of day for hundreds of years. - -Gaupa remained near the fire watching the Swede as he dug. He wore an -old pair of sheepskins, stiff with dirt like dried deerskin. He would -never leave Ré Valley though, he said. When he got rich he was going to -build a small palace on Black Mountain, and there he would sit drinking -fine wine and gaze upon the earth stretched out before him. - -Then he straightened himself, the pickaxe hung loosely in his right -hand, and with his left he wiped the perspiration from his bald head, -and the hand left a mark, it was so dirty with digging. The red bearded -face worked itself into a half-witted smile, the eyes grew large, lost -all keenness and became troubled. Then he said: “And when once I die, -then I will return to Ré Valley in the shape of a beast.” - -Gaupa saw how the Swede was becoming strange, as if he were listening. -Then he uttered an ugly roar, and fell on his face almost into the fire. - -Quick as lightning Gaupa pulled him away, and there lay the old Swede -prostrate in a fit. His hand held the shaft of the pickaxe too tightly -for Gaupa to wrench it open, but he succeeded in forcing a stick -between the teeth of the sick man to prevent him from biting off his -own tongue. His legs were pulled up crooked under his body, a muffled -groan from the depths of his throat was heard off and on, his mouth was -smothered in foam. - -At last the body twitched no more, the Swede began to breathe evenly -and heavily; he slept like a man tired to death. - -“He’ll soon be himself again,” thought Gaupa. He had seen epileptics -before and knew that such attacks most often end in deep sleep. - -But the Swede slept on and on, and Gaupa noticed how his breathing grew -fainter. At last he had to lie down close beside the body to catch it -at all. The time came when the Ré Valley Swede did not breathe any -more. He lay crouching over the plate which was to have been the great -adventure of his life. But the pine-log fire burned on beside him red, -resinous, and alive. - -After that night Gaupa was unable to rid himself of the last words of -the old man with the glassy troubled eyes: “in the shape of a beast.” - -When evening spread her dark mantle over the sky, when the tree-trunks -ceased to be, and he saw the wild beasts gliding like living shadows -across the wooded glades, then he heard it: “in the shape of a -beast—beast.” And however much he willed it not to happen, his heart -would beat in his breast like the sound of far-off muffled guns. - -When at dawn he waited for the capercailzie’s love song, the mystical -peals of bells of the forest, he heard what he had noticed since -his earliest youth: although the silence was absolute, there seemed -to be someone talking somewhere, far away in no particular direction -only far away. He had often thought of the People of the Hills, for -Gaupa believed in them most sincerely; he had both seen and heard -inexplicable things, but ever since the death of the Ré Valley Swede -the low distant murmur became words, “Beast, Beast, Beast....” - -Gaupa was constantly expecting something to happen. The tension of -it was like music to his soul. Ever since that time when he watched -through the night beside the dead Swede, felt his hands growing cold, -saw his lips growing blue, ever since that time the night and the -forest seemed to attract him even more strongly than before. The -possibilities hinted at by that one word “beast” ran through his brain -like an icy trickle, became a sweet pain—“Beast, Beast....” - -Gaupa had never known fear in the woods, not even when once he killed -a bear cub and the mother bear rushed straight towards him with huge -leaping strides—even then he was not afraid. He just sent a bullet -through the head when she was four paces away. And it is easy to -understand that the last words of the Ré Valley Swede did not frighten -him. - -Only he acquired a strange habit. After shooting an animal he -invariably looked into its eyes. It had become such a confirmed habit -that he did not think about it, for ten or twelve years had elapsed -since the corpse of the Ré Valley Swede had been carried away to -civilisation on the back of a horse, and in Gaupa’s thoughts the memory -had grown somewhat blurred. All the same he could at will recall the -face of the dead man in the glow of the fire, a face as red as the -trunk of a pine tree in the evening sun. - -The old Swede had said he would return to Ré Valley in the shape of a -beast.... Gaupa remembered what had happened some time before on a farm -north in the Lower Valley, a farm where the outlying meadows mingled -with the highest birch copses just below the bare mountain. - -The farmer’s son married the prettiest maid in all the valley—oh, what -a beauty she was!—but pale and delicate as a winter’s moon. And just -as the moon dies and vanishes before the light, so life ebbed out of -her slowly, oh so slowly. But she clung to life, and she said that if -she died she would return to her boy husband in the shape of a bird. -And she did die. - -The following summer the people of the farm were astonished to see -a mountain grouse amongst the poultry. At first she was shy and -disappeared every night, but she was always there in the morning. At -last the bird grew so tame that the lad who had lost his girl-bride -could hold it in his hands. - -When winter came the grouse changed her feathers and became snowy -white, and one day she flew to the mountains straight towards the sun. -The shimmering sunshine absorbed her, and to the lad she seemed to be a -white angel flying into heaven. - -When Gaupa first heard the story he felt himself start. The girl had -kept her word. Would the half-witted Swede keep his? - -Then in the Spring, something happened. Gaupa was stealing through the -wooded slopes of Ré Valley one morning about four o’clock. The surface -of the snow, thawed once and frozen to hard ice afterwards, bore his -weight. Big socks outside his boots allowed him to walk without a -sound, for the capercailzie is easily alarmed. - -A tiny fluffy cloud flamed red in the eastern sky. Water from melting -masses of snow rushed down the mountain-sides, making a sound like -gusts of wind in the forest-clad mountains. - -Then he heard a raven croaking above him, and he raised his face to -the sky in search for it. What might the black bird be crying out for? -Gaupa saw warnings in many things, and he knew that a raven’s croak -generally means something sinister. He remembered an autumn night when -he was spearing trout somewhere west in Three Valley Mountain, how in -the moonlight he saw such a bird fly up from the ground. Gaupa went -up to the group of young spruce out of which the raven came and there -he found the skeleton of a man, with a half-rotten leather pack lying -beside him. It was the wandering pedlar who many years before had -insisted on crossing the mountains to the next cultivated valley, and -had never been seen again. - -Gaupa felt quite convinced that the raven is a sinister bird. What -might that black eater of carrion be croaking about now? wondered Gaupa -as he stole along lightly on the Black Mountain slopes. The raven was -sure to have seen something down there in the forest, quite sure. -“Arrp!” he cried—“arrp!” - -Gaupa continued his way southwards, stopping once in a while to use -his ears when the snow did not crunch under his feet. He had not known -sleep since the evening before, when day fled from the horizon and he -threw a lump of snow on to his fire farthest up the valley and walked -into the darkness, for Gaupa preferred the darkness to broad daylight. -He loved night. - -Dawn was approaching and he was growing sleepy, a heaviness in his head -took away his interest in everything about him. But when he reached a -ridge overlooking Gipsy Lake, all drowsiness left him instantly, for -before him in the pearly dawn he saw an enormous grey elk cow bending -over and licking a newborn calf. He stopped short, but the elk cow -seemed to think that Gaupa himself was nothing more than an animal, -black as soil, with hairless skin round eyes and nose. Terror engulfed -her, and when Gaupa drew near the cow fled. He went up to the calf. The -little animal was wet and warm, steaming in the cool air of the dawn, -its breathing laboured, uneven—it was newly born. - -Gaupa caught his eyes and gave a start; he felt an icy chill run -through his being, and he remained kneeling holding the animal’s gaze. -Those eyes were not soulless and empty like those of other newly-born -animals. They were human eyes, plainly and undoubtedly the eyes of a -human being. - -Above him the raven circled round and round croaking its steady “Arrp,” -“arrp” until the bird turned westward and the cry died away, an ugly -threatening sound amongst the dark clouds. - -Gaupa held the elk calf with both his hands. He felt the pulse shaking -its frail body, and he noticed that it was a bull. Once more he had -visions of the Ré Valley Swede, and heard the ugly roar that opened the -epileptic attack, heard that last gasp—“Beast, Beast....” - -Gaupa felt for his hunting-knife, wrenched it out of its sheath, and -drew it straight across the left ear of the calf. Then he walked away -with crackling steps. - -The sun reached the pine-clad ridge behind him, played softly round the -little calf’s head, kissed him and wished him welcome to life and to -the forest. - - -§ 4 - -But Gaupa lay awake in Gipsy Lake Hut, full of memories. The dog was -lying silent in sleep. Once Gaupa struck a match to light his pipe, and -in one corner his rifle reflected the glow. “The Tempest” had roared -once that day, and there was one elk less on the slopes of Ré Mountains. - -But what Gaupa saw that morning, when aiming at the elk cow, was the -calf’s left ear—it was only half an ear. It was the same calf he had -handled the spring before, the elk calf with human eyes. It was he who -had just cried out so uncannily like a human being under the Black -Mountain, more weirdly than Gaupa had ever heard a beast cry before. - -There was also something strange about the calf’s spoors that day. The -clefts were not side by side as elk clefts usually are. They spread out -obliquely from each other. He knew he would be able to distinguish that -spoor from a thousand. Gaupa had seen many elk spoors in his life, but -never any like these. - -The stove in the hut ceased muttering. The flue cooled down with tiny -dry cracking sounds. - -Below the hut a fox stopped to smell the smoke which still lingered in -the air. - -Up in the mountain the brook murmured incessantly. Under the Black -Mountain an elk calf was licking the skin of his mother which was hung -up on a pole fastened to two trees. The calf kept poking at it with his -muzzle, but the skin was dead, lifeless, with no warmth of blood in it, -and the young elk raised his head and whimpered plaintively, hoarsely -and brokenly. - -In Gipsy Lake Hut Gaupa was on the point of going to sleep when he -suddenly became wide awake again. The hut was quiet as the tomb, but -the silence slowly grew pregnant with that inexplicable murmur which -Gaupa knew so well. It was as if spirits were whispering around him. -“Beast, beast, beast.” - - -§ 5 - -The next day Gaupa went northwards to Lower Valley, where people were -living. They struggle through life as best they can, and when they die -they are taken to the ancient tarred wooden church that calls them back -to earth with dismal deep-toned bells. - -Gaupa’s home was a timber hut on a stony birch-clad ridge, jutting out -into the river. The building was so near to the water’s edge that if -the spring flood was unusually high the water almost lapped against its -walls. - -There Gaupa and Bjönn lived alone. Gaupa was a confirmed old bachelor, -over fifty years of age. He had reached the evening of life, and women -and love had never been anything to him. No one had ever heard him sigh -on account of a petticoat. - -His real name was Sjur and he hailed from a spot far north in the -valley, a crofter’s place called Renna. His parents died when he was -young. Sjur was not cut out for a crofter, and so he built the little -hut for himself down by the river, and it stands there to this very day. - -Sjur was believed to be a shoemaker by trade and he was handy both with -awl and thread. But what use was it to take your shoes to him when -he never finished them? If you left them with him during the potato -harvest in the autumn you could not expect to get them back until the -cuckoo was heard in the following spring. Therefore work grew more and -more scarce, and heaven only knew what he lived upon. But Gaupa would -gorge like a dog when there was food, and could starve like a dog when -food grew scarce. - -People gave him his nickname “The Lynx” because of his strange habits. -He slept during the day and was up and about at night, like a wild -beast—like a lynx in fact. - -When the dalesman locked his door, blew out his candle, and crept into -his sheepskins, then the light gleamed as bright as ever from Gaupa’s -hut. About midnight he would often steal out into the forest only to -return at day-break, when he would creep into his hut, lie down and -sleep as a wild animal does in its lair after its hunt for food. Gaupa -was indeed a strange man. - -There was an old schoolmaster in the valley, who went from one farm to -another teaching for a time at each place. He wore spectacles and was -exceedingly learned, and he always sang the corpse out of the house -at funerals. He was the oracle of the valley. He knew everything, and -could tell you why Gaupa slept by day and went out by night. - -There were two kinds of people, he used to say. Some were born by day -and some by night. Those born by night often had a strange longing for -darkness. “Look,” he would add, “at that singular being at the Lynx -Hut. He was born by night and avoids the day.” - -The schoolmaster was quite right about that. To Gaupa the sunshine -was not warm, but cold, while the moon was quite different. In the -moonlight the shadows in the forest moved like the shades of dead -animals, a steady movement, hardly noticeable and yet unmistakable. -Then Gaupa felt as if he himself were stealing about on hairy soles. -What a delightful thrilling, silent restlessness there was around him! -He seemed to be watched by unseen eyes from the heaps of rocks and -wooded copses, where soft paws trotted over the moss, sinewy bodies -crouched, the whole copse felt like one mighty enchanting mystery. -There was magic music in the air about him, a subdued melody, and he -seemed to hear the burning stars sparkle in the firmament. - -On such nights Bjönn would often accompany him. The manner of Bjönn’s -arrival at Lynx Hut was as follows. One winter a dalesman from Lower -Valley was travelling towards the plains with a load of butter and -cured fish. When he left the town of Hönefos on his return, he noticed -a large deer-hound following him. It was dark in colour with a grey -head and grey legs. The man drove on, wrapped in his black sheepskin -coat, with his old horse drawing the sledge. The dog followed. - -But on the evening of the second day the dog disappeared, and a week -later the same animal, all skin and bones, crawled up to Lynx Hut. -Gaupa gave him food, and the dog remained there. No one asked questions -about him, and Gaupa named him Bjönn. - -Towards the spring, in April, Gaupa happened to show the dog a huge -spoor in the crusted snow under Ré Mountain. Bjönn went absolutely mad, -and the elk ox who was at the other end of that spoor was unprepared -for such a terrible pursuit by such a tiny animal as Bjönn appeared to -be. The elk sank through the snow crust, but Bjönn kept on top, and -three days later Gaupa carried home venison which no one was allowed to -see. - -From that day Bjönn grew to be the best elk-hound in the valley. -Wonderful stories were told in the district of Gaupa and his dog. When -those two started to follow a spoor they never gave up. They had their -meals on the spoor, they rested, and even slept there. They followed it -from one horizon to the other, from one county to another, till at last -the elk lay dead. - -Gaupa and Bjönn were like the animals they were called after, wild and -ferocious. People would say to Gaupa, “You’ll kill yourself yet with -such mad chase”—but the prophets fell ill and died, whilst Gaupa ran on -as mad as ever. - -He was a great teller of stories and a popular musician at dances. -Then he played on a fiddle on the head of which the devil himself, -horns and all, was carved out. And when he had had a little brandy -the stories would come pouring out between his bearded lips. He was -inexhaustible like a spring, and in everything he told there was an -alluring mystery. - -One night he was at a dance, telling of the Ré Valley Swede and the elk -calf from Black Mountain—of the elk calf whose mother he had killed two -weeks before and of the ugly cry he had heard the night afterwards, -while he spoke silence reigned, and the young girls shivered. - -A few days afterwards these things were the talk of the Valley. Such -a story amongst those people was like leaven in dough. It grew and -grew. Old sagas and old superstitions were added, and even the Sacred -Word of God. For in those days the people of Lower Valley had nothing -else to speak of but what actually took place within the limits of the -mountain ridges before their eyes. Kings might die in the great world -beyond—that was a matter of minor interest to them as compared with the -death of a six-weeks-old piglet belonging to a crofter at Cool Hill. - -Therefore it is nothing to wonder at that when Gaupa told the story of -the elk calf of Black Mountain, the Ré Valley Swede was in a manner of -speaking resurrected from his tomb. - -Then suddenly everybody remembered a number of things about him. The Ré -Valley Swede was not a true believer, he did not accept the Word humbly -with a Christian’s heart. The Bible says that when people die they -either go to heaven or hell, and no one in Lower Valley doubted for -one moment that as a rule they all went straight to heaven from their -Valley—that is, if we may judge from their funeral sermons. - -But the old Swede believed that many things might happen after death; -he even seemed to believe that the dead might return—as beasts! - -The schoolmaster explained that there was another religion which -taught such a belief. But people did not care two straws about other -religions. The Ré Valley Swede was a mocker, a free-thinker; a cold -blast followed him wherever he went. Martin Ormerud recalled how when -he entered the barn where the Ré Valley Swede was laid out, a big -black bird rose from his head. “Mercy upon us!” people cried. - -Thus they gossiped; old wives eighty and ninety years of age, -spectacles on nose and Bibles on their knees, read aloud with trembling -voices how “the Lord endures not a mocker.” The old Swede was a living -testimony to the truth of the Word. As a punishment for his sins and -his mocking of God, his restless spirit was now condemned to roam about -Ré Mountains imprisoned in an animal’s body. God have mercy upon the -poor soul when once the old sinner died, once more up there among the -pines along Ré River. - - -[Illustration] - - -§ 6 - -Years passed. - -In the wilderness between Gipsy Lake to the South and Lower Valley to -the north there roamed about a wizard elk that no dog and no marksman -could conquer. - -The dalesmen called him Rauten; why, no one could say. Such names come -floating on the north wind, and have no origin. Perhaps the name stuck -because when he was still a calf he would low, for all the world like -cattle on an autumn evening. - -Rauten wandered about Ré Mountains, not like an ordinary earthly elk, -but like a being half body and half spirit. No lead bullets could wound -him. He was rarely seen by human eyes. - -During the mating season, at dawn and in the gloaming, foresters -sometimes heard his mating call. It sounded more human than animal, and -it made the foresters realise that they had nerves after all. - -Now and then they happened to see his spoor, unlike all other elk -spoors. The clefts pointed outwards, like the spoor of a man walking -toes outwards. The Ré Valley Swede had also walked toes turned -outwards. When he went along the high road northwards one foot pointed -east, the other west. - -Long-limbed men strode miles and leagues after Rauten, but his spoor -never ended. Dogs chased him, and returned limping and moaning. - -There was a black-bearded man whom they called Gaupa. He and his dog -Bjönn followed elk spoors from one horizon to the other, from one -county to the other. But whenever they happened to see an elk spoor -with the clefts pointing apart they turned away. Chasing a spirit is -like chasing a shadow. - -Years passed. - - -§ 7 - -On Bog Hill, near the outskirts of Ré Valley, an elk bull was standing -immovable. - -It was dawn, when light and darkness intermingle, when the wild animal -threads softly to his lair, tramples in a circle for a little while, -and then crouches down and closes his eyelids. The few hours out of -each twenty-four when death and life are locked in each other’s arms -have come to an end. Here and there a drop of blood lies on the earth -like some moist red flower, or a heap of loose feathers seems to tell -where a bird has undressed; only that particular bird no longer needs -feathers. - -[Illustration] - -Still the bull elk on Bog Hill did not move a muscle. His head stood -out clearly against the dawn which flooded the eastern sky like a lake -of yellow light. His antlers resembled young bushes, and between the -tines a dying star twinkled in silvery paleness. - -It was no mortal animal standing there; it was a ghost from dead -generations, an animal spirit from the eternal hunting-grounds. - -Daylight grew more and more whilst the elk stood still. A grey film of -dawn decked the side of the pine trunks turned to the east. The light -filtered through the pine needles as through a sieve. A bird chirped a -while and then became silent again, like a life that dies just as it is -born. - -Then the elk’s head turned, quite slowly from west to north. In his -slightly curved muzzle there was the dreaming melancholy of wooded -dells. His nostrils worked incessantly, expanding and contracting, the -cold morning air running in and out of his nose. His eyes were large -and wide awake. For the call of sex burned in his mighty body—the call -to mating which rises and falls from time to time in eternal rhythm, -from generation to generation. - -One ear of that elk was only half an ear. It was Rauten, the largest -and wildest of all elks between mountain and valley. Mating time had -come, when bull seeks cow, and cow seeks bull, when angry eyes stare -into angry eyes in the fight for the female, when antler meets antler, -breaking the silence of the forest with mighty crashes. - -Rauten sniffed and listened. Into his nostrils entered the smell of -rottening leaves and boggy marshes. It was late autumn, and the life -which spring had created was on the point of returning to earth. But -no scent of the female was borne on the slight breeze from the north -that fills his nose. All the same he remained; now and then he cocked -an ear, backwards and forwards, but no sound was heard from any living -throat. - -Then he lifted his head, opened his mouth and gave the mating call, a -deep nasal sound which floated over the bog and died away again. - -Again Rauten listened. The western slopes took on a lighter shade, but -the valleys and gullies still yawned black. - -Then he turned and went northwards along the ridge, with long strides, -covering the ground at great speed. One cleft hoof splashes into a tiny -pool of water, the other crushes a small spruce which has been ages -about sprouting in the shallow soil, and might have grown to be a big -tree. - -Rauten knew of a cow living thereabouts. He had come a full league to -find her, and soon a strange scent greeted his nostrils—a kind of burnt -acrid smell, recalling a billy-goat at mating time. - -Rauten went on till he found a marshy place with yellowing birches. On -a hill-top close by, a small hole had been dug out in the earth—and not -long before, for a couple of torn roots appeared fresh and white where -they had been broken, not brownish as they are when they have been -exposed for some time. - -The hole had been dug out by mating-mad elk bulls, and the strong scent -emanated from it. The hole seemed to breathe out that scent, and Rauten -was in the middle of it. - -He nosed the earth, but there was no breath of a cow. Then he rubbed -himself against a small spruce. - -Suddenly a soft-eyed elk cow came out on to the marsh below, and both -animals stood still for a moment, heads raised eyeing each other. -Rauten felt as light as light; he ran—no, he floated towards her. -Passion was boiling inside him. He ran in rings round her, that shy -female with lowered ears and patient, expectant eyes. - -Then he broke loose upon her: He followed the same almighty law of -Nature which compels the unconscious capercailzie and his cackling hen, -the valiant wood-cock—yes, and even the little anemone which stealing -the blue of the heavens spreads new life out of tiny soft stamens. - -For a short time silence reigned over the marsh, except now and then -for the crack of a breaking twig under the elks’ hoofs. - -Then another elk appeared. It was a three-year-old, with slender horns. -He saw the two in front of him and made as if he would jump. In him -also the forces of nature were at work. Strength pulsated through -his young body, each muscle trembled impatiently with longing for -a contest. For that cow with Rauten belonged to him, to him alone. -She had gone with him the day before; she was his, his own. The -three-year-old grew large-eyed and wild-eyed, his withers bristled like -a brush. Rauten must be vanquished, Rauten must die. - -The two elk bulls faced each other on Bog Hill like two living springs -of force. There were four eyes full of madness, four antlers, and those -antlers mean death. - -Rauten was like one suddenly waking from a trance. He was quivering, -wide awake; for the cow who was peeping at them curiously from behind -a crooked spruce was his. He had mastered her, he had floated with her -through golden sunlit mists; she was his, his own. That youngster must -be conquered. The youngster must die. - -The first war-cry was raised, a hoarse cry from a savage soul on fire. -“Yah! Yah!” - -The younger elk lifted his upper body, a hoof was flung through the -air, making a dark line across the pinewoods, stopped and fell. - -“Crack!” The sound was at once soft and firm. Rauten felt a fierce -burning sensation under one ear, a slight mist shadowed his brain for a -moment, then all was clear again. - -In that brief second the other hoof from the youngster struck his neck. -Hair and skin was flayed off, a fire licked Rauten where the hoof -struck, and then.... - -There he stood, half rampant, a thunder-cloud, a storm. He turned his -eyes, turned them slowly, threateningly. They were no longer brown, -but white. It was as if all madness raging in that huge body had -concentrated in the eyes, turning them white. Rauten towered as tall -as the young pine beside him, his jaws opened, breath steamed out and -his tongue protruded, long, wet, slavering. Then Rauten struck back. -His forelegs were no longer skin and bones and muscles belonging to a -body. They were shadows, spirits, ghosts, sinister forebodings of blood -and destruction. Lightning gleamed and thunder crashed. The storm had -broken loose and the three-year-old was there to meet it. The God of -the wilds have mercy on his body! - -The sun had not yet risen, but was still resting somewhere behind the -hills. But when Rauten struck, the three-year-old saw the sun all the -same, not only one, but a number of suns, a swarm of them. They danced -in his head like round sparkling disks of wonderful colours. They -gleamed green like fireflies, metallic like a bluebottle, copper-red -like the harvest moon. - -Another blow fell on the heels of the first one. It struck above -one eye. And once more the tapestry of the firmament was rolled up -before the sight of the youngster. There were no suns that time, but -stars—what a host of stars, as numerous as dewdrops on the grass, -sparkling like snow in spring! They leapt and danced inside his head, -whirling madly together. - -They went out suddenly, all of them, disappeared like a mist, and then -he saw the old sun peeping red-eyed from behind the eastern mountains. - -The three-year-old went backwards and retreated, for this was so -sudden. He had attacked a rocky wall and found it hard. But Rauten did -not let go; he followed, followed, and up from hot gorges and reeking -inner bodies came the war-cry again: “Yah! Yah!” - -Their antlers met writhing into each other. Snouts touched the earth, -the bulls groaning as if to rid themselves of something. The sinews -of their hind-quarters shivered, trembled, rage gave life to every -hair in their manes, their stumpy tails were raised angrily. Two sharp -backs stood out against the sky like monsters. Every fibre of their -bodies was taut, muscles writhed like worms and red-hot blood boiled -rhythmically through their veins. - -Their antlers were still interlaced in fierce contest; those of the -youngster pale grey, Rauten’s brown, watered, lined like iceworn -rocks, as if some unknown hand had written strange runes on them. They -hammered and crashed, their hoofs cut gaping wounds in the moss, the -dew fell like tears from the sedge, and dark spoors appeared on the bog -where the mighty ones walked. But the three-year-old went backwards. - -Their antlers released each other, their bodies rose, and once more -legs turned into fleeting shadows. The blows sounded as if someone -were beating sheepskins with a stick; hoarse sounds escaped from their -throats, hair flew in the air like driven snow. - -The cow looked on, slightly dazed, nodding as it were her approval, for -that was what she liked. The tension between the bulls invaded her; she -could not remain calm any more, she leapt forwards, stopped, stamped a -little, and once she lowed loudly, out of sheer excitement. It was for -her they were fighting, for her their sharp hoofs made their bodies -bloom red with blood. - -The red rose over Rauten’s shoulder grew and lengthened into a long -narrow leaf, changing shape continually, but not changing colour. The -three-year-old wore a number of such roses, which easily grew out of -his young, well-beaten body. - -The cow’s sympathies, however, were all for Rauten. He was the -stronger, and she wanted the stronger. Even then she felt deliciously -faint after their mating. - -Rauten’s madness was that time sky-high, his muscles tautened and -relaxed and in their rhythmical movement made a wild song. - -Both bulls had now begun to feel the strain. The mouths of both were -white with bubbling foam, and their heads felt heavy, but their -haunches stood up like bushes, and Rauten’s eyes were alight with -savage madness. It was as if he wanted to use to the fullest extent -that opportunity of working off all the superfluous vitality which had -accumulated in him in the course of a long, long year. - -A few small bushes seemed to jump forward in the bog to see the fight. -Tree-tops stretched their necks one behind the other, staring. Sparks -of light flew up from the grass; it was the cool breath of night which -remained like dew on the earth. - -Once more the cow lowed with excitement. A woodpecker sat on a dry, -hollow spruce tree. She was green as the slimy stones in the brook. She -turned her head, listening in shiny-eyed astonishment at all the noise. -Then her beak hammered on the wood once more. “Knrrr!” said the hollow -tree-trunk. - -Rauten’s skin was wet with sweat, and under his belly, on his flanks, -flakes of foam boiled as if on a fleeing horse. And still his muscles -sang their mad song, and again the three-year-old saw suns and stars. -He staggered, retreated to the edge of the bog, sank on his knees, but -rose at once. He had fought and lost, he had become a smaller beast in -the woods. He was giving in, only he did not want to turn round and -run away until he was obliged to do so. - -At the edge of the bog the unexpected happened. A little hill runs -down there, and a high stump of a tree stood close beside a spruce. -The stump was about the same height as an elk, and it looked as if a -storm had once felled a spruce. The younger bull retreated towards -this stump, and without giving warning Rauten ran his antlers under -him. Then he made a mighty effort which will not soon be forgotten -in the Bog Hill forest. The three-year-old was raised on end, stood -for a second on his hind legs, was pushed over and fell down on his -back—between the tall stump and its neighbour the spruce tree, and was -wedged in securely between them, fast as if in a vice. - -Rauten stood with head uplifted looking at his helpless foe whose legs -uselessly beat the empty air. Rauten wanted to use his antlers again, -to kill, but he could not reach. The younger bull’s legs worked like a -windmill, and a blow from them would hurt. Rauten remained there a long -time, the youngster on his back, mouth wide open, steaming. - -Then the cow joined him, and Rauten went to meet her. The storm within -him calmed down. For the cow began to lick him, and her tongue was -soft, so caressingly soft. His shoulder blazed red like the sunrise, -and his neck wept warm tears on to the moist earth. Every touch of the -cow’s tongue was a reward, humble admiration of him only—the greatest -and the strongest among the elk bulls of valley or mountains, the -crowned king of elks in Ré Valley. Nothing could stand up before him. -He broke down everything before him like a falling tree in the bushes. -He trotted southwards with the cow by his side across Bog Hill, like -Victory itself, even though one ear was but half a one, and his body -wept blood. Round their legs the white heads of the bog down-grass -moved like fat white birds, while the elks ploughed their way, dark -grey under the sloping rays of the newly-risen sun. - - * * * * * - -The three-year-old lay on his back all the morning, wedged in between -the stump and the tree-trunk. - -There was no possible means of getting out again. He could not turn, -the space was too narrow, and his legs could get no hold in the -empty air. He worked till he grew weak. Then he lay still, knees bent -heavenwards as if he were praying to the sun for help. His tongue -lolled limply out of one corner of his mouth, and the sun burned his -face pitilessly. Then he shut his eyes. - - -§ 8 - -That same day in the afternoon Bjönn from Lynx Hut was following an elk -spoor southwards through Ré Valley. - -Bjönn ran quickly, nose to earth. He crossed wide marshes and small -bogs where the dwarfed pines spread their wide, flat crowns like noses. -He crossed ridges and valleys, and at last his course went towards Bog -Hill. - -There his song grew wildly excited. Gaupa was half a league farther -north, but he overtook the dog within an hour. He went straight up to -the helpless elk, whose legs still pawed the air. He aimed, pulled the -trigger, and the bull elk moved no more. - -“H’m”—Gaupa wondered. - -“That is an elk bull,” he mused, “but in what a strange position! How -in all the world did he happen to lie on his back between that stump -and the spruce tree? It is inexplicable.” - -He investigated the bog, picked up a tuft of hair which was dark, and -then another which was lighter. But the whole bog looked as if someone -had driven a harrow from end to end, and from side to side criss-cross. - -“H’m,” Gaupa mused once more. Lord, what a fight there had been! He -walked about studying the spoors. His eyes searched the earth. Two -bulls had been here. One remained down there on the slope, and he had -blown life out of him with his own “Tempest.” But the other bull was -larger—and why, of course it was Rauten, the wizard elk. The cleft -spoors stood out with curved outer edges as the spoors of a bull -generally are. - -Gaupa raised his head reflectingly. Round about him the calm glow -of autumn burned in the air and on the earth. The slopes were -multicoloured with pinewood and leafage intermingled, spotted like the -coat of a lynx. - -He began to flay the dead elk; but as it was too late in the day to -go down in Lower Valley with the news that he had killed an elk, he -decided to go east and spend the night in the nearest highland farm. - -On his way he meditated on Rauten, but he was not such a fool as to -try to trace him. That would be sheer waste of time. He was not such a -fool as to try that. For many are the hunters who have returned with -sore-pawed and worn-out dogs when they have had the wizard elk before -them. - -Rauten had peculiar ways. He rarely ran faster than the dogs could -go, but he never really stopped, never long enough for the hunter to -overtake him. He sought out all the lakes and ponds in existence, and -crossed them. You might follow him for hours and hours if your dog did -not give up—as he was sure to do sooner or later. Very eager dogs were -known to chase Rauten till they completely lost their way, and they -had been found in far-off districts past the mountain gap. Also all -foresters in those parts agreed that bad luck went with the wizard elk. -Petter Kleivaberget fell and broke his arm when chasing Rauten. Arne -Öigarden shot his own dog in mistake for the elk—a fine dog, too, worth -a hundred dollars. And the man from Krödsherred who attempted to run -down Rauten on ski one winter broke both skis and as nearly as anything -died in the snow. He was so weak when he reached the Tolleiv Mountain -Farm that he could not walk across the pasture—he crawled on all fours -and was a whole hour about it too, so it was clear to anybody how near -to death’s door he had been. - -No, Gaupa would not follow Rauten. - -He went east to Morsæter. The house lies in a little valley branching -out from the Ré Valley proper. As he walked he felt uneasy. His head -was heavy and he coughed now and then; he breathed heavily going -uphill—he who never used to notice a hill, he who could mount the -slopes at a run. Presently he began to perspire also. Gaupa did not -usually perspire for just nothing. - -It was probably because he had sat down on a peak last night and felt -exceedingly cold, after sunset. He had been running pretty hard just -before, so that he was a little moist. And that mountain peak was -quite bare, and such places are invariably rather cold. - -Some years before Gaupa had had pneumonia. An epidemic raged in the -district at that time, and there were many funeral parties and many -sad-looking pine branches along all roads. And the young people did not -dance again until Midsummer Eve. - -Gaupa had really been very bad at that time, and Harald Övrejordet, the -lay preacher of the valley, the high priest as they called him, came -up to him and begged him to be converted from all his sins. Perhaps he -would have turned from his evil ways, if he had not felt that selfsame -day that the sickness had taken a turn for the better, and that he was -going to get well. Therefore he was in no hurry, he would wait and see. -He recovered completely and remained in sin for the time being. - -But ever since then Gaupa found that if he ran really very hard a sharp -needle seemed to run through his right lung. That needle was a perfect -nuisance. It had cost him several horse-loads of meat, for it had -forced him to stop while the elk ran away. - -He felt that needle now, but, curse it, it was sure to go away again. - -Towards evening the sky grew filmy, the sun dull-eyed, the earth grey. -A lake to the north was just then gleaming pale under the wooded -slopes. The fire went out and the lake was nothing but water. - -The wet, naked rocks in the east mountains were also fiery while the -sun shone. They seemed to be drops of fire which had fallen amongst -mountain peaks and forests. They too went out. - -Gaupa walked towards Morsæter, Bjönn on the lead. The needle in his -lung was burning—a confounded nuisance and no doubt about it. It came -like lightning, and so unexpectedly that it jerked his whole body. But -it was sure to go away again. - -In the gloaming he saw the flat pasture round the Morsæter. The forest -yawned, and he reached the fence. The roof had been freshly shingled, -and looked very white and clean. - -He searched for the key of the door. It was usually to be found in a -hole in the wall, but not so that day. He tried other places, but there -was no key. - -As a matter of fact Gaupa was man enough to open a lock. He also knew -how to take out window frames, so tenderly and carefully that they bore -no mark of axe or knife. No house was locked to him, and if the worst -came to the worst he would crawl down the chimney! - -The padlock was opened without trouble. Gaupa merely gave it a few -mysterious taps with his sheath knife. The hook released the body of -the lock and seemed to say, “Please enter.” - -While Gaupa was cutting wood for the night behind the house, the echo -from his axe beat his ears like shots. The sky was sleepy and cloudy. -Perhaps there would be rain. - -He stood by the hearth cutting chips to start a fire, and felt his head -reeling. But his will controlled the knife, so that the fat pine-root -chips curled before him like small bouquets. - -The fire was lit, and then three living things were in the hut—Gaupa -and Bjönn and the Fire. Gaupa sat on the hearth stone, creeping close -to the fire. For it was cold and shivery that night, ever so cold. The -boiling-hot coffee helped a little against the cold, glowing inside -him for a little while, but very soon he shivered again. Cold blasts -went down his spine, and they made him start and say “Damn” to the fire. - -He pulled his bed near the fire. Two sheepskin rugs were there, and he -found another in the next room. He went to bed with one under and two -over him, but even then he felt cold. It was as if his body had ceased -to produce warmth, he was cold from within, and a pang shot through his -right side and would not leave him, however much he rubbed himself with -his hard hand. - -After a short time he fell asleep and dreamed—that he was chasing -Rauten, running till he was quite winded—it was quite absurd how very -much he was out of breath. And Rauten with the half-ear stood before -him looking at him out of deep human eyes, but Bjönn lay still beside -him licking his paw—what an idiot of a dog! But when Gaupa fired he saw -the bullet leap out of the muzzle of the gun and run slowly through the -air as if time was of no account, and when at last it reached Rauten’s -forehead the bullet rolled down as if it were a pea, which Rauten -bending low picked up and chewed, very much as Bjönn did when you gave -him sugar.... And at that moment Rauten was changed into a man, the Ré -Valley Swede, only he had those enormous elk horns on his head. Gaupa’s -hand fumbled for another cartridge, but then he woke up, perspiring. - -Morning came—after a long, long night. Gaupa wanted to go to Lower -Valley with news of the elk. He flung his legs out of bed and stood on -the floor. But what the devil was the matter? His head had grown so -heavy; the floor rose, he had to stretch out a foot to keep it from -upsetting him. He had never felt anything like it! Perhaps he was going -to be taken ill out there! Perhaps he would remain in that bed as -helpless as a baby! “No,” he muttered, “I’m damned if I do.” - -He sat down again and put his shoes on. That was better, but he could -not swallow a bite. The food seemed to grow in his mouth as soon as he -had bitten it. All the same he packed his sack and went outside. - -Mist engulfed him like an enormous white wave. He saw the trees like -shadows, and the little barn in the meadow was hidden from sight. - -With Bjönn on the lead he staggered across the meadow; and when he -opened the gate in the fence, nature was so silent that the slightest -noise seemed to saturate the air with sound. - -He crossed the brook that runs from the little lake, and a few fish ran -back into the lake, their backs so high that they moved the surface of -the water. They are playing already, he thought; the trouts are laying -their roe now about Michaelmas time. - -Gaupa sat down. Bjönn pulled at the lead as if wishing to investigate -the mist. - -Gaupa felt that he was far from being well. For by that time there was -a hot pang in both his sides, and his chest seemed too small for his -breathing. It was four full hours’ walk to the Lower Valley. He might -meet people before that. He had seen wood cutters at a place near -Spæende Lake, where he passed a couple of days before, but even that is -two hours’ walk, and Gaupa, the Lynx, was so uncertain of himself that -he doubted whether he could manage that little bit in two hours. - -In fact he began to see himself as he was that winter with pneumonia, -a helpless man, whom his legs would not carry. At times he was in this -world and at times in another, where everything went awhirl and upside -down. - -If now he should lie like that under a spruce tree between Morsæter and -Spænde Lake, it would be anything but funny, No one would find him, for -who could know the ways of the Lynx? It would be better to crawl back -to his bed of last night than risk a sick-bed under a spruce tree. - -And then Gaupa behaved in a strange way. As usual he was wearing his -brown cap with a very small peak, which he had worn for ever so many -years. It may seem strange that he should drag about such a rag of a -cap, but there is nothing so strange about it after all, for it was -a Lucky Cap, and after Bjönn and “The Tempest” it was Gaupa’s most -cherished possession. Gaupa, it may be said, never went into the woods -without that cap, and it showed signs of wear, for in the middle of the -crown there was a round hole all through to the lining. The branches -had made that when he moved about under the trees. - -Gaupa took off his cap as solemnly and earnestly as if he were -entering the Lower Valley Church on a Mass Sunday, but he was sitting -by a mountain lake, bareheaded and black-haired in the mountain mist. - -Then he flung the cap through the air, watching its flight with tense -eyes. The cap turned a few somersaults, described an arch, struck the -heather with a soft whisper, and lay still. Gaupa walked softly up to -it and noticed very carefully the direction of the peak. It pointed to -the house, and Gaupa knew then that he would go back. There could be no -doubt about it. - -For he believed in the power of the cap, and had never had cause to -regret it. Many a time the cap had shown its remarkable power of giving -good advice. When uncertain about the direction to be taken in order to -find game, he had often thrown his cap, and where the peak pointed when -it fell, there he went, and there the elks were, even when he could -never have dreamed of finding them there. The cap was as good as a dog -with a supernaturally fine scent. - -Gaupa returned to the hut, and one need not laugh at him for that. -Anyone living like he did sees many strange things which sound even -strange in the telling. Beasts and bird and fish, yea, even trees and -grass possess strange powers and may tell the future to those who have -ears to hear. - -Inside the but Gaupa tore off some bits of stale bread, hard as stone, -for Bjönn, and then he crept in under his sheepskins. - - * * * * * - -It cleared up later in the day. The earth changed her face and began to -smile, the last flakes of mist vanished in the air as if by magic. - -At sunset a red eye seemed to shut among the peaks. A long ridge of -shadows made its way up an eastern slope. It rose slowly, inexorably, -like water in a lock. The last rays of the evening sun covered a hill -like a red cap. - -Dusk fell, but the yellow birches round the bogs seemed to have -drunk the sunshine and kept it in them, so that even in the gloaming -the silver birches stood out like patches of sunlight that had been -forgotten. On the fence round the pasture a tiny bird poured forth -clear ripples of song into the stillness of the evening. - -There were no signs of life near the hut. - -Inside, Bjönn was crouching at the foot of the bed, his nose under -his tail and his ears flat. The hearth was black and dead, under the -sheepskin rugs Gaupa lay, a quick breathing was heard. Once the dog -rose to lick Gaupa’s hairy head. Then a rough hand with black nails was -extended to stroke him. “Poor doggie,” someone whispered. - -Then the dog curled up again at the foot of the bed, swallowed noisily -a few times, and then there was no sound but the laboured breathing -from the bed. - -A silent fight was fought in that lonely mountain hut. A hardened body -rose up against something intangible something that could not be hit, -a trembling of every muscle, a heaviness in head and chest not to be -shaken off. At last he was conscious that his whole body noted every -single sensation, and he could not ward off a feeling of dread. Nobody -had any errand up there at that time of the year. The manure had been -spread over the pasture, and he could not think of any other work for -the people from the valley, knowing that they had no wood-cutting to -do. - -[Illustration] - -Then he thought of Bjönn, whom he could feel like a warm cushion across -his feet. Bjönn was a wise dog. Often when the elk had fallen, far -away, the dog returned to him to tell with eyes and gesture, and he -followed him to where the elk lay. Would he not also be wise enough to -fetch people, if his master rose no more? - -Dusk came, even in Gaupa’s brain. The sheepskins were so hot that he -longed to throw them off, only he knew it would be dangerous to do so. - -Sometimes his eyes opened, and then they were moist as if he were moved -to tears or as if he had done a long, hard sprint. The corner of his -mouth worked incessantly; he was never without that, but it did not -disturb him then. - -A sharp gleam of light played upon a tin pan on the wall for a very -long time. Then the face of night lay close up to the window panes, -looking in, and the pan ceased to gleam! Only the newly-shingled roof -of the cowshed stood out white in the darkness. - - -§ 9 - -On such September nights moonlight in the mountains seems like magic. - -That night the moon was full and round, a glowing pupil in the blue -eye of heavens. A light mist floated over the lake, the outlines of -the mountains blurred like shadows. The western Ré Mountains looked as -if they had opened to let out all their hidden treasure of silver. The -streamlets wormed their way like molten metal down the steep slopes; -far below they foamed like avalanches of snow. When the water went to -rest in the lakelets down at the bottom of the valleys, the silver -gleam moved lazily below the wooded slopes. A big animal crossed a -moonlit glade. It was not an animal at all, but a dream which the -forest and the night see in their sleep. Long shadows fell on the glade -and the deer waded in them. But the rays of the moon caressed its back -with soft, trembling touch, and its eyes were wet. - -Noiseless like a cat Rauten went forward, no sound under his hoofs, no -crack from a broken branch. He walked as if careful not to waken what -sleeps about him; but he did not quite succeed. A capercailzie was -perched in a tree just above him. Her head crept out from under her -wing and her hairless eyelids opened; her neck hung down as she stared, -but Rauten disappeared, and the bird hid her head under the wing once -more. - -A hare jumped up—a spirit in flight. - -Now and then Rauten’s nose nearly touched the earth. He sought the -scent of a cow elk. For he was alone again to-day. The cow he had -fought for so valiantly the day before no longer wanted him. Cows are -unstable like all females. Rauten was not the one and only elk for her -any longer. - -But Rauten might find other mates; he was never at rest, because of the -cows. He wanted to fight for them all, to strike terror in the heart -of every bull he met, beat them with his antlers till they would writhe -limply like willow twigs. - -He stopped sniffing towards a faint movement in the air, his ears -eagerly caught a tiny sleepy murmur from the brooks. But there was no -scent but that of bogs and woods. - -He went on silently with enormous strides—a fairy-tale walk towards -sunrise. - -In the mountain hut there was nothing but that laboured breathing from -the bed. Every once in a while Bjönn would sigh deeply as if he were -greatly troubled. Then he would lick his jaws a few times and sleep on, -while the moonlit square moved across the floor like a living thing. - -A breath of wind soughed round the walls—hush—sh—sh; a loose window -pane let in a tiny draught. - -Then the dog’s head was raised instantly, suddenly as when a wild -animal is disturbed in his lair. Bjönn was awake and alert. Eyes -glowing, nostrils alternately large and small. He smelt some scent -which that breath of air had carried into the hut. - -He jumped on to the floor with a soft thud and stood with both forepaws -on the window-sill. His triangular ears were stiff with eagerness; -he saw something out there, growled deep down in his throat as if in -anger. What did he see? - -Suddenly he left the window and stood by the door. With an impatient -bark he scratched the door to get out. Realising the futility of that, -he rushed back to the window and the floorboards groaned beneath his -weight. Again he stood up, his forepaws on the sill, howling as if in -pain. What did he see out there? - -In the bog below the pasture there was an elk. No bush could be more -immovable than he. The elk seemed to sleep or to listen for something. -His antlers appeared to float on the silvery lake below—full of shining -silver bowls gently rocking on its surface. - -Gaupa sat up in the bed. There must be something very special to make -Bjönn carry on like that.... - -He could see through the window from where he sat, and it seemed to -him that never before were air and mountains so fiery yellow and so -strange-looking. They seemed to him to be burning with fever.... - -Farthest away and highest up he saw the sky, blue and teeming with -stars. Below there swam a mountain, revealing its bristling back, and -the slope was wrapped in a misty veil. Nearer to him at the bottom of -the valley the lake flamed so brightly as to hurt his eyes, and on the -bog nearer still he saw ... he saw—— - -He stroked his eyes with his finger and looked again. - -An elk was standing on the bog between the pasture and the lake, asleep -or listening. - -Gaupa wondered whether he was losing his senses or beginning to see -visions. - -Once more his hand touched his eyelids, and he felt how weak and -limp his arm was. He turned his head. There was Bjönn, whining and -scratching at the door, so the fever had not quite mastered him. There -was his rifle, “the Tempest,” leaning against the wall. It had the same -flashing steel trigger as always, and he saw the elk’s head which he -himself had carved on the butt. These could not be mere visions. He was -quite in his senses, and there _was_ an elk down there on the bog. - -He threw off the sheepskin rugs, stepped out of the bed, leaning on the -bedpost. He was no longer the Lynx, the man of muscles and sinews—no, -he was a staggering uncertain thing, bereft of his strength. His head -throbbed as if a thousand little animals were trying to break out -through his skull. His chest was too small, and he drew in air in short -laboured gasps.... - -Gaupa somehow managed to get across the floor and seize “the Tempest.” -How delightfully cool the steel felt to his hot palms! - -After a while he reached the window and stared out. The elk remained -immovable, looking northwards towards the Big Bear which unceasingly -runs along its azure path in the sky. - -Then Gaupa pushed the muzzle of his gun straight through the -window-pane. A crisp clang of breaking glass followed, some pieces -falling on the window-sill, others on the floor. - -Dead silence reigned in the hut once more. The dog stood erect beside -the man, his ears cocked, trembling with excitement, waiting for the -shot. - -Gaupa crouched, his knees bent, his chin pressed against the butt. How -nice and cool it felt! He took aim, and when his eye caught the shining -sight on the muzzle a calm relief seemed to fill his body, killing the -fever.... - -Rauten stood down there. What was that he heard in the moonlight? The -sound immediately begot a picture in his brain. He saw and heard an -icicle breaking from a precipice and falling down on to the glacier -below. It was broken to pieces and shattered with a shrill clang.... It -was the sound of the falling window-pane. - -Up in the hut Gaupa took aim. First his aim sought the starry flowers -in the sky. Then it sank past the multitude of stars, sank lower and -lower, crossed the mountain slope, skirted the lake, stole along the -bog, fumbled for the elk’s antlers and found them. There it rested -awhile, only to glide downwards along the dark body, stopped again, and -remained. - -Gaupa’s forefinger crooked. His eyelids did not move, nor did Bjönn’s. - -[Illustration] - -Rauten was listening all the time for that icicle. Then a hot pang in -his left shoulder startled him, but the sensation was drowned in a -roar of thunder which broke upon the stillness of the night. The elk -stretched out and lay flat in the air, touched the earth, and stretched -out in the air again. Moonlight streamed between the tines of his -antlers when he ran, each leap double the length of his own body. He -was chasing a mad shadow in front of him, chasing it into the forest -which swallowed shadow and elk alike. - -Shortly afterwards something splashed in a lake to the north, and the -water spouted white before Rauten where he started to swim. He swam -across the lakelet, swam across molten silver. On the farther side he -rose, dripping, and ran on. - - -§ 10 - -Gaupa lay in bed once more. The hut was filled with nauseating fumes -from the powder, and Bjönn ran from window to door and back again. -Finally he stopped at the door, nose to the chink, scenting the draught. - -Gaupa knew what elk that was. It had incredibly large shovel-shaped -antlers, like Rauten was said to have. Few elks in these parts have -shovel-shaped antlers nowadays. Undoubtedly it was Rauten. Lead could -not wound him, and he had vanished through the moonlight when the shot -rang out, like one possessed. - -After a time Bjönn lay down before the door. Once more silence reigned. -But to Gaupa it was as if he and Bjönn were not alone in the hut. A -breath of wind came down the chimney, and to Gaupa’s ear it was as if -something breathed. The silence afterwards was filled with that strange -murmuring which comes from nowhere and everywhere. Was it the voices of -the dead returning? It sounded like a faint whisper, always the same -intonation, always alike. The whisper grew into words: “Beast, beast, -beast....” - -Even the hills round that hut bore marks of Ré Valley Swede’s pickaxe, -deep holes, mossgrown by now. Did he hear steps outside? Two stealthy -steps at long intervals? No, surely not. Bjönn would have barked if -there had been real steps. - -And lying there with his eyes shut, Gaupa recalled many strange things -which had been told in Lower Valley during those last years. - -One day the cow-boy at Lyhussæter came running home struggling to -regain his breath. The dairy maid stood agape. At the same time Martin -Lyhus scrambled up with his packhorse, and he heard the nonsense the -boy had to tell. - -“An elk bull has mounted our 'Drople’!” he says. - -Martin tied his horse to the fence. - -“What ails ye, lad? Don’t you come here to grown-up folks with child’s -talk. What you say has neither rhyme nor reason.” - -“But it’s gospel truth,” the boy maintained, and Martin noticed that he -was purple with running. - -“That elk had antlers as big as never was,” says the boy. - -The outcome was that Martin went with him. They found “Drople” not far -off, but no elk bull, only to the farmer’s eye the cow looked strangely -shamefaced. He also found elk spoors, so evidently the lad had spoken -the truth. But that spoor was Rauten’s, for Martin recognised it. - -Now, as the dairymaid knew, “Drople” had been ready for play, but -strange to say she did not seem to care for a strange bull which -happened to come near their mountain farm. - -Nine months later “Drople” was kicking and raving in the Lyhus cowshed -in the Valley and she could not give birth to her calf. The dairymaid -went in and woke up Martin Lyhus. Her white kerchief gleamed in the -light of her cowshed lantern, the ends hanging under her chin like long -ears, when shaking her head she declared that the farmer himself had -better come out and take that calf. He wasn’t no real cattle crittur,’ -that he was not, for “Drople” had mated with that wizard devil’s beast -in Ré Mountain. Now she could not drop her calf. - -Well, Martin went out, but for all he strove and laboured he could not -bring that calf. Then he fetched Tolleiv Skoro, who was something of a -vet. And Tolleiv bit his tongue, as he always did when treating cattle, -and he worked and worked till that calf lay beside “Drople” in the -straw. - -But what a miracle of a calf! Mercy upon us! - -Its legs were half as long again as they should have been, its colour -was dark, snout long like an elk’s, and there was next to no tail! - -The dairymaid trampled across the shed in her dirty boots. - -“Martin,” she said, “you look into its eyes.” - -Martin did not see anything remarkable in the calf’s eyes. - -“You kill him as soon as ever morning comes,” said the woman. “I won’t -handle no crittur with eyes like human beings.” - -They killed the calf and buried it. - -“Such foolish womenfolks,” Martin Lyhus pooh-poohed; but he had to give -in; for his wife was at one with the maid in the matter, and you know -the ways of womenfolks.... - -Only that was not the end of it all. - -“Drople’s” milk had such a queer taste that no one in all Lyhus farm -would drink it. They could only use it for cheese and such-like, and -the next autumn the skin of “Drople” hung inside out on the back wall -of the barn. - -Something else happened the summer after “Drople” was killed. It was -at the Lyhus Mountain farm, which lies in a wooded valley west of Ré -Valley, and elks used to live there in summer. - -One night the dairymaid saw a head in the forest, half a human head and -half an elk’s head it was, poking out from a closely grown spruce tree. -She saw nothing else but the head, nobody, only a tremendous pair of -antlers. - -The head stared at her and did not move, only stared. She felt as if -she were standing in icy-cold water up to the chin. She whispered the -name of Jesus towards the head and then took to her heels towards -the hut, mumbling bits of the catechism while she ran, from the Ten -Commandments to the Creed, and she was half dead when at length she was -safe in the hut. - -“What’s the matter?” asked the farmer’s wife. - -The maid was silent. She sat down and said nothing. - -“Dear me, what ails thee?” the housewife asked again. - -“I am too scared to tell.” - -“Scared?” - -“Yes, it’s more like blaspheming, it is. I saw a deer’s head round by -Grey Hill.” - -Anne Lyhus had rolled up her sleeves. She was at work salting and -kneading a lump of butter. - -“Haven’t you seen a deer’s head before this?” she asked. - -“Yes, but that deer’s head had eyes like a human being. And worst of -all I recognised them!” - -Anne gasped. - -“Recognised them?” - -“‘Twas the eyes of the Swede. If it’s my last words on earth. I swear -they were the eyes of the Ré Valley Swede!” - - -§ 11 - -The moonlight had reached Gaupa in the hut. Bjönn jumped up to him in -bed, nosed his head and licked his hair, tail wagging. Gaupa stroked -Bjönn’s head. - -“Poor doggie mine,” he whispered. The dog lay down beside him, but with -raised head, and stared through the window across the marshes. - -In a little while the bed started falling over. The bed turned over and -Gaupa turned over against the table. It felt as if the bed was trying -to throw him out and get rid of him, and he grabbed the skins with both -hands, holding on as tight as tight. He had never felt such a sensation -before. - -There now, he was level again—how delightful! The bed calmed down; -but what a number of lakes and brooks there were in that square of -moonlight on the floor! A flood of little brooklets.... And then the -bed began to tilt again, it turned upside down, and Gaupa clenched his -fists, holding on for dear life till the perspiration ran down his -skull. - -Day dawned. Gaupa was talking to himself with eyes closed, while the -stars vanished one by one. - -On the brink of the precipice towards the Ré Valley stood Rauten. - -He could feel that gadfly constantly stinging in his left shoulder. He -nosed the place, but only found the hole where the gadfly had crept in. -His skin bled from the bite of that gadfly which bit into him, when the -thunder roared, over near Morsæter. What a strange gadfly! - -But that gadfly was lying close by a bone, on the shoulder-blade. It -was hard and thick and flat. Once it had lived inside the barrel of -Gaupa’s rifle, but the night had been so bright and it had flown out -into the moonlight. - -Another day came into being. - -The man abed in the mountain hut cried out aloud again and again, -“Bjönn!” he called, and each time the dog crept up to lick the man’s -face. - -About noon a wind arose, blowing somewhat hard. The broken pane rattled -and there was a draught in the room. The wind falling down the chimney -played a little with some fine cobweb under a beam in the roof and -escaped through the window again. - -The wind blew hard and then calmed down, blew hard and calmed down once -more, and between each gust the hut only seemed to wait for the next. - -Suddenly there was a sharp noise in the lock of the door and Bjönn -jumped down from the bed, barking. But the door swung on its hinges, -and made a yawning gulf out towards the sunlight outside. Probably -the wind did it, or was it the forewarning spirit of a man following -behind? Several hours passed and no man entered, so it could not have -been a spirit after all. - -And there was another night and another day. - -Outside Bjönn wailed to the heavens, while the wind thrashed the forest -till it waved like a dark green sea. - -After a while the dog trotted eastwards along the path by the lake. He -grew smaller as the distance increased, he trotted steadily along the -beaten path. When there was a dip or a mound he disappeared, to dive up -again soon afterwards, but finally there was no reappearance. - -Then Gaupa was quite alone in the mountain hut. - -Only he was not there at all. Suddenly he had entered strange -underground passages where breathing was difficult and which were so -narrow that he could scarcely move. He lay flat, he tried to bend his -knees and sit up on his haunches, but the place was too narrow. Then -he attempted to pull himself forward on his stomach, tried with all -his might, for soon there would be no more air in there. It was half -dark and he could not find his way out. The passage was crooked like -a fox’s lair, with no beginning and no end. He crawled forward in mad -terror, lest he should never find a way out. - -Then suddenly a shot rang out there, and all was blank. - -After a while he crawled again, crawled—crawled to find a way out which -he could not see. - - -§ 12 - -Bjönn trotted down the path to Spænde Lake. Here and there yellow -and brownish leaves were in his path, and when he trampled them they -rustled like a fire of twigs. - -Where the slopes began to fall steeply towards Lower Valley, a -wood-cutter stood beside a marked spruce. At the height of a man’s head -a strip of bark had been flayed off so that bare flesh of the tree -could be seen. The strip of bark hung down like a long tongue; one -might imagine the tree putting its tongue out at the forester. - -But the wielder of an axe is not one to defy! “Bang!” said the tree -trunk, when the lightning steel cut a chip from its body. - -The strokes of the axe sounded even and regular from the forest; they -might almost be the pulse of the woods. - -Bjönn stopped a little to the west, listening. The sounds reminded him -of something and called up a picture of Gaupa outside Lynx Hut cutting -firewood, bending and straightening his body as the axe was lifted and -fell. The stroke of axe and human beings go together, Bjönn knew that. -Over there in that woodland slope there must be people. - -Soon afterwards the wood-cutter heard the heather whispering behind -him. His axe was still in the middle of a branch, and he turned his -face bearded with a week-old stubble. - -He saw a dog standing there, looking at him, wagging his tail, and -saying as plainly as anything: - -“Good day to you. I see you are cutting timber.” - -“That is the deer-hound belonging to Gaupa,” the wood-cutter thought, -for everybody knew Bjönn just as everybody knew the parson or the -sheriff. Bjönn was an elk hunter by the grace of God; he provided long -elk hams for their store-rooms and long elk antlers over their doors. -Yes indeed, everybody knew Bjönn. - -“Is that you, Bjönn?” the wood-cutter said softly; he left his axe and -went up to the dog to stroke him with a hand sticky with resin. - -But the dog behaved very strangely—just like a puppy. He jumped off as -if in play, made a leap and stopped to look backwards at the forester. -He wagged his tail a little as puppies do when they want to play. - -“You’re a funny dog,” the wood-cutter thought. - -The dog made several leaps, looked backwards, asking the forester to -follow him. But that wood-cutter had only a tiny space in his head -where his wits lived, barely space enough to contain the idea of -timber, axes, pork, and coffee. Therefore he understood nothing at all -of what the dog wished to say, and started cutting timber again. An -enormous spruce fell down, a giant of the forest which stood at his -post and fell there like a faithful veteran. - -Bjönn waited. The man cut off a slice of bread and gave it to him. -Bjönn wolfed it down. He would have liked more for sure, but the -wood-cutter could not afford it, for a man who fetches his living from -between the bark and the wood does not readily throw away good food -into a dog’s mouth. - -Bjönn waited. He wanted the man to go with him to the Morsæter Hut. It -was not as it should be that his master remained in bed day after day -without moving, and without getting up. - -“You be off and find your master,” said the wood-cutter, making as if -to chase him with one arm. “You go along after Sjur.” - -Bjönn only cocked his ears and remained. - -“Fool,” said the man; “changeling,” he said. - -Evening came, and the man met two of his mates at their hut. Bjönn was -still with him, and they soon agreed that he must have lost his way, -and God only knew where his master was. - -Then the wood-cutter told the others of the dog’s strange behaviour -when he first arrived. One of the men, who had much beard, many years -and much experience, said thoughtfully: - -“It can’t be possible that something wrong has happened to Gaupa?” - -“Certainly not,” the first one replied. “No wrong’d ever befall Gaupa, -he who is for ever making his bed under the nearest tree. Gaupa can -look after himself, no doubt about that.” - -Bjönn had been sitting still near the door, but then he scratched to -get out. The door was opened and fastened again. Pork spluttered in a -pan, a kettleful of coffee boiled over and vomited at the spout. - - -§ 13 - -Bjönn trotted westwards again. The wind had calmed down, and in the sky -above a low ridge God had lit a tiny star. - -In a brief hour Bjönn entered the fence at Morsæter. - -The door of the hut had been thrown back and was only slightly ajar. A -narrow grey nozzle entered the gap, and Bjönn stepped in. Breathing was -coming from the bed. - -The dog jumped up and crawled lazily forwards to the sack of provisions -which formed the sick man’s pillow. Gaupa was uncovered, lying on his -back fully clothed, his beard streaming over his chest. - -He was conscious now, and clearly recalled how he shot the elk in the -moonlight, but how long ago that was he did not know. Time was blurred -in his mind. Anything not connected with the elk he could not recollect. - -There was Bjönn. The dog placed a cool wet nozzle against his chin. He -saw that the door was open and remembered seeing him enter, and the -thought begot the idea that sooner or later the dog would seek people, -and the important thing would then be that he should carry something -which would take a message to anyone he met. - -After some reflections he loosened his watchchain from his waistcoat -and tied it round the dog’s collar. - -Was it morning or evening, dawn or gloaming? It might be either, but -after a time the darkening dusk, which came like something soft and -fleecy, convinced him that night was advancing. - -What about that shot at the elk?... - -Perhaps he had struck the beast somewhere in the body. It was -impossible to say, for the deer might well run as it did even if it -were hit. Perhaps he struck the belly, and Gaupa’s imagination clearly -pictured how that bullet would tear the intestines until their contents -would run out like a thick butter. The elk would run with a flaming -fire inside—Gaupa could almost feel it inside himself. - -He wondered at himself for his pity—it was more like a woman than like -him, Gaupa, who never before had cared whether he only wounded an elk -or killed it. But now a curious tenderness invaded his whole being, -and the bare thought of a wound gave him pain, downright physical -pain. Most distinctly of all he could feel the possibility of a hit in -the lungs—if the elk could no longer draw a full breath, but had to -gasp for air. The lungs filled with something that stopped breath and -blurred sight. The nose began dripping blood—the elk would be choked.... - -And Gaupa thought that if he went out alive from that mountain hut he -would never more be careless where he sent a bullet into an animal. -Either he would be sure that his shot could kill, or he would not shoot. - -He was fully conscious throughout the evening. - -Those eyes came back to him, as he had seen them off and on during -later years, when dreaming or half asleep. - -He saw a forest at dusk, it may be one summer evening. Everything was -asleep about him, but over there amongst the spruce something was -alive, two moist, brownish, living spots side by side. And in another -direction he also saw two living eyes, and he knew them. They were the -eyes of dead elks shot years ago, calves bereft of their mothers. Such -eyes looked at him from behind every tree and every bush; they blamed -him and accused him, the elk souls from the land of shades. - -A trembling fear assailed him; he turned and turned to get away from -the staring glances which caught his own irresistibly. He ran with -feet like lead that would not move; but the eyes were everywhere, they -seemed to move, staring till madness entered his soul. - -Then he noticed two unlike the others. They were deer’s eyes and yet -they were not. They were the ones he had met eight years before on the -slopes of Black Mountain. Then he threw himself forward, his face in -his hands. - - -§ 14 - -The next day the farmer Halstein at Rust in Lower Valley saw Bjönn, the -dog from Lynx Hut, trotting towards the farm. The dog came into the -passage and scratched at the door. Halstein opened, and noticed that -the dog was soaking wet. Big wet marks on the floor showed where he -placed his paws. He had probably swum across the river. - -What was hanging on the dog’s collar? - -Halstein loosened the well-worn brass chain, looked at it, and said to -his wife: - -“This chain belongs to old Gaupa. I’m thinking something must have -happened to him.” - -Halstein had often followed both Bjönn and his master in the forest, -and that was why the dog fetched him for help. The dog behaved exactly -as he did with the wood-cutter the day before, running from the door to -Halstein and back again. - -“Well, well, I’m coming sure,” said Halstein, packing his sack. He took -his gun from the beam in the roof, and the two walked quickly across -the meadow. When he reached the bank of the river the dog jumped first -into the boat, and on the other side they were swallowed up by the -forest. - -The man and the dog walked for hours, along narrow forest paths, across -murmuring brooklets, and through birch bush. Bjönn never wavered, he -was going back on his own tracks, and he never walked so far as to be -out of Halstein’s sight. - -All the time Halstein was wondering what might be the matter with -Gaupa. Perhaps he had had an accident, broken a leg.... As far as -he knew Gaupa was on the Buvas Slopes a week before, and since then -nothing had been heard of him. - -The man and the dog walked on, not towards Ré Valley, but farther east. -Once they crossed a mountain ridge and stood with their feet on earth -and their body in the clear sky. Then again they descended into a -narrow valley. Morsæter Lake regarded them like a bright blue eye. They -came to a dense copse of healthy young trees, as is usually the case -near mountain summer farms, and then they were at their goal. They saw -a hut with a brown mossy roof and a cowshed with bright, new-shingled -roof. - -Halstein Rust stopped outside the door. Bjönn forced his way in, -leaving the door ajar. Where Halstein stood in the sun he could see -nothing of the interior of the hut, it being darker in there, and he -was blinded by the sunlight. He heard Bjönn’s steps on the floor, but -no sound of man. Why did not Gaupa say something? Surely he must have -heard them both coming. - -He cleared his throat and struck his iron-shod heel against a stone -with a loud noise, but not a whisper came from the hut. He noticed a -thin, worn-out horseshoe lying on the ground before him, and a bunch of -fir twigs which the dairymaid had made to scrub her wooden milk-pans -with last summer. He hesitated to enter, with the same icy feeling -which seized him when about to enter barns and other outlying houses -where corpses were laid out.... - -Then he cleared his throat once more, decisively this time as if -driving away an uncanny feeling. He walked to the door with the long, -fine steps of the forester, the latch clattered, and he stood before a -bed with a man on it. It was Gaupa. Gaupa was alive. - -“Good day to you,” said Halstein, half astonished with a question in -his voice, as if he had not expected to find Gaupa there. “Are you in -bed?” he asked. - -“I’ve been sick,” Gaupa replied. - -Soon afterwards smoke curled up from the chimney, and Halstein Rust -carried a wooden pail to the well, north of the pasture. When he -returned Gaupa had something ready, which had occupied his thoughts -while the other was away. - -“The first thing you must do when you go home,” he said, “is to send a -message to Christopher Hovtun, that there is the flesh of an elk bull -awaiting him near the little bog under Bog Hill.” - -Halstein could not keep back a smile. - -“What about a doctor? Would he not be almost as important?” - -That same day he returned perspiring to Lower Valley, harnessed his -mouse-grey mare in his carriole and drove away northwards through the -valley, his stiff, black, Sunday-best hat on his head. And that same -night a man with starched linen, spectacles, and thin white hands was -riding along the forest paths towards Morsæter. The moon hung in the -heavens like a yellow lantern lighting his path, while the farmer’s boy -from Rust followed him. - -[Illustration] - -When they reached the hut they heard a deep bark from within. The -doctor descended stiffly from the saddle, and it was quite ridiculous -to see that from town-habit he knocked at the door before entering. - -For three weeks afterwards there was smoke curling up from the Morsæter -chimney every day. One day in the fourth week Gaupa and Bjönn stood at -the door of Lynx Hut. Gaupa was sickly pale. - -But farthest out in Ré Valley where the round head of Ré Mountain seems -to bend forwards to look down into the valley, Rauten stood in a marshy -place still feeling that nasty gadfly which bit his shoulder. He could -not reach it with his tongue, and could only lick the hole where it had -crawled under the skin. He did not get rid of that gadfly until winter -gleamed on the mountain peaks and Gaupa’s lead bullet was surrounded by -a covering of tissue. - - -§ 15 - -Gaupa was not his old self all that winter. - -He stayed indoors making shoes, and felt cold if he went out. His body -seemed to have become open so as to let in the wind and the cold. - -But he recovered when spring came. He resembled a strong tree. A -wound is covered with resin and the tree is whole again. The same -thing happened to Gaupa. Slowly but surely weakness grew out of him. -And by the next autumn any number of old footwear lay under his bed -awaiting his treatment. But Gaupa had no time for work. His short, -muscle-hardened legs were trotting over ridges and far horizons. - -That autumn neither he nor any others learned any news of Rauten, and -not even the spoor was seen of the wizard elk. Very likely he had gone -to some other forests. - -Let me see now—did anything worth recording happen to Gaupa? - -Yes, he shot an elk bull on a prohibited ground. If the thing had -been made known it would have resulted in a thumping big fine; and as -Gaupa had nothing with which to pay a fine, it would have meant prison -instead. Therefore he did a very sensible thing. He cut off one of -the elk’s legs at the knee, then went outside the preserve and made -a beautifully clear elk spoor all up to where his elk lay. Then he -fetched people and said: - -“Here ye are, folks. There is the spoor. I was raising him outside the -preserve, and then he ran away in there where he lies.” - -Well, the men saw what there was to see. The elk had been raised -outside, though lying in the preserve. That was clear enough. The spoor -was sufficient evidence as good as a sworn witness. The men bit off a -screw of twist and would have sworn ever afterwards on their souls that -Gaupa raised the elk on lawful ground. The man who owned the forest had -half the meat, as is the custom. The sheriff had some of it for his -Christmas dinner, and proposed the health of Sjur Renna whom people -called Gaupa, the sprightliest man in the forest who fetched such -dainty food from the wilderness. - -Well, it was no unusual thing. Elk hunters have a special catechism, -with the ninth commandment left out, the one about bearing false -witness. But when Gaupa skipped that commandment he made an extra -special churchy face, as candidly innocent as if his good conscience -was covering it externally. - -That winter an elk fell through the ice in Lower River, a league or so -to the south. Four men helped him out again with great difficulty. That -deer had half an ear, and ran off to the western slopes, having come -from the east. - -The following autumn Gaupa received a letter. It was brought to him -specially by a little boy from Rust who had no other errand. - -“I was sent with a letter for you,” he said. - -“A letter?” Gaupa could scarcely have been more surprised if one -morning the sun had risen in the west and had crossed the sky -backwards. A letter? A letter for Gaupa? - -He put down the fat pork he was eating, wiped his hand on his trousers, -and took the letter as gingerly as if afraid it would burn his fingers. - -The envelope bore some printed letters as distinct and black as those -in the Prayer Book: “H. Braaten & Co., Drammen.” Below he read “Mr. -Sjur Renden, Lower Valley.” But that was in pen-and-ink writing. - -Gaupa opened the letter with his sheath knife much as he would cut open -the skin of an elk’s belly. The rustling white paper in his hands for -once brought home to his mind the fact that his hands were extremely -dirty. The paper seemed too nice for them to touch. Even that bore the -printed inscription “H. Braaten & Co., Drammen,” and below: “_Wholesale -Hardware_,” which two words he did not understand in the least. The -handwriting did not look like what he had learnt at school, round and -readable. That before him was nothing but straight lines and broken -ones crowded close together. And what a man he must be at handling a -pen, he who wrote it! The words raced across the paper like gusts of -wind, and below a whirling curl stood by itself; Gaupa guessed it was -meant for “Braathe.” He went off at once to find the schoolmaster and -have the letter read aloud. By himself he could only puzzle out a few -words here and there, like “elk,” “Ré Valley,” “superstition,” and -“Yours truly.” - -H. Braaten & Co. was a man from Lower Valley who had turned genteel. He -hailed from a croft called Vermin Camp, and left home as soon as he was -out of school. He sat on a loaded trading cart when he left, and the -whole outfit reeked of well-matured old cheese. - -But when he returned!... - -He arrived in a hired carriage with a hood on it, and he brought a wife -whom they called Mrs. Braathe, and who talked town language. And there -was so much gold in his teeth that when he laughed his mouth was like -an entire sunrise.... That grand gentleman was Hans from Vermin Camp -who left the district on a sledgeful of old cheese. - -The schoolmaster first took two or three readings of the letter, his -lips forming the words but not his tongue. Then he read aloud: - - “MR. SJUR RENDEN, - -“From my good friend up there I learn that there runs in the woods a -remarkable elk, which no forest-men can manage to kill. Of course a -great deal of superstition is connected with the animal, the dalesmen -of Lower Valley being presumably as superstitious now as when I was a -child. Lower Valley is on the outskirts of civilisation. But if you, -who are, as I have heard, the greatest hunter in those parts, would -consent to guide me on a trip after the mysterious elk, you would give -great pleasure to an old acquaintance. I long for Ré Valley. - - “Please send me an answer. - - “With kind regards, - - “Yours truly, - - “H. BRAATHE.” - -The schoolmaster folded up the letter looking as if he had accomplished -a great deed, something that no one else in all the valley could manage. - -“You’ll answer for me, won’t you?” said Gaupa. “You’ll say he can come?” - -And going home to Lynx Hut he felt himself greater than before. A -gentleman from Branæs had sent him a letter, saying it would be a -pleasure to have his company. The last “Yours truly” sounded so full of -respect and so courteous that one might think it had been written in -mockery. - - -§ 16 - -One day Mr. Braathe knocked at the door of Lynx Hut. Gaupa was at home, -but did not answer. What did that knocking mean? After another knock he -went to open the door. - -Mr. Braathe was a long lath of a man, who seemed to have been pulled -too hard length-ways and grown too narrow. Everything about him hung -loosely—his cheeks, shoulders, even his clothes. He was as shrivelled -up as a bat. - -“Please sit down on the bed,” said Gaupa; “there are no more lice there -than the fleas have managed to eat.” - -That was a joke he usually quoted to strangers, but this time he swore -to himself the moment he had said it. The man before him hailed from -Vermin Camp, and might think the words an allusion to his past. - -But Mr. Braathe kept smiling, and asked Gaupa to call him plain Hans -just as in the old days. - -That same evening they stood on the slope above Tolleiv Mountain Farm -in Ré Valley. Bjönn was not with them, because Hans did not want him, -and in Gaupa’s opinion even a dog could not avail when he was hunting -Rauten. - -If Gaupa had nursed any ideas about the townsman being worth but -little, he was mistaken. Gaupa walked quickly all day, but Hans kept -up with him, and there was not a sign of perspiration about him. Once -he took out from his bag a strange instrument, a short trumpet of -birch-bark with a kind of mouthpiece at one end. - -Hans was a much-travelled man. He once saw nothing for nights and days -but sea and sky. He had smelt the smoke from Red Men’s camp fires. -While he spoke, Gaupa grew silent and his eyes sought the far distance. -He was not there in a boggy hollow on the Ré Valley slopes. He followed -this tall man through endless woods on the other side of the earth, -in a country which to Gaupa’s mind had always been more dream than -reality. They seemed to be under a tree, and beside them crouched a -copper-coloured Indian with burning eyes. He had a similar birch-bark -trumpet in his hand. The wilds of Canada spread out under the clouds. -It was early morning. Somewhere a beaver splashed into a calm pool. -Farther away a duck was heard. - -Then the Red Indian, their guide, moved his moccasins with infinite -care, turned towards the rosy dawn over the earth in the east and -lifted the birch-bark trumpet to his mouth. At first he only breathed -into it as if to warm it. It was a cold autumn morning, as silent as -death, except for the occasional splash of the beaver.... - -The Red Indian lowered his instrument, raised it again, and out of -it floated the mating call of an elk, loud and living, luring and -treacherous. - -Hans arose, saying that that night they would lure the wizard elk. The -birch-bark instrument had accompanied him in the wilds of Canada, and -more than one crowned head had been turned by it. It would be a strange -thing indeed if Rauten were not fooled also.... All that talk about the -Ré Valley Swede was the most arrant nonsense, he declared. - -Gaupa did not care to show himself superstitious to his companion, -for superstition was old-fashioned amongst the genteel. Therefore he -guessed that Rauten was an elk like other elks. He ate grass, mated -with the cows in the autumn, and when he died he would die like a he -goat. No restless spirit would fly out of his nostrils. - - -§ 17 - -It was the following night. - -On the slopes of Black Mountain Rauten stood on a rock, listening, his -ears waving alternately backwards and forwards. His beard hung stiff -and awe-inspiring. He was listening for a cow. They usually can be -heard at dusk during mating time. - -The weather was not quite calm. A darkish cloud sailed slowly above -Black Mountain. Just below him in the river there were mild rapids and -the water bubbled incessantly against the rocks like a boiling kettle. - -Farther up the slope Hans and Gaupa sat under a spruce tree, the lower -branches of which touched the earth. They sat as if in a tent, on soft -reindeer moss, hardly daring to move. Hans produced a flask, and Gaupa -poured the golden brandy down his throat without a word. Little by -little the forest grew veiled. Over the east mountains daylight faded -away, the roar of Ré River seemed incessant and more wide awake than -ever. The sound was uneven, which meant that there was movement in the -air. That was bad luck. - -Hans bent towards Gaupa. “I wonder if we shall have an answer -to-night,” he whispered. - -“This is the best elk ground in all Ré Valley,” Gaupa whispered back. - -Then once more they sat as still as stones, and Gaupa felt the brandy -on his tongue for a long time. - -The night before they had tried the trumpet trick, but no bull answered -them. - -That afternoon they found Rauten’s spoor just below where they were -then sitting. A young pine showed white spots on its bark and several -branches were broken. - -There the wizard elk had rubbed his antlers; the marks were so fresh, -perhaps only made that day. - -As darkness came on, Gaupa’s excitement grew. Hearing seemed to fill -every part of his body. He was nothing but ears.... - -Hans regarded this strange being beside him. Gaupa’s face was so very -short, with next to no chin, and that is rare, for surely energetic -people generally have strong chins. Now and then he jerked his head -sharply and suddenly, as if he heard something that made him jump -every once in a while. Then Hans saw Gaupa smile, and a smile had not -been seen on Gaupa’s face all that trip. He was smiling, a strange, -stiff-lipped smile, and turning to Hans he asked: - -“D’you hear him?” - -Hans had not heard a sound. But Gaupa’s keen ear had caught a sound so -faint as scarcely to be one at all—the mating cry of a bull elk. The -sound seemed to come from below and from the north. Silence reigned -around them once more. Gipsy Lake had a silvery streak along its -eastern banks. It was the reflection of the northern sky. - -Hans carefully pressed the birch-bark mouthpiece against his lips, -stuck the other end out through the pine branches, and blew. The call -of a cow elk rang out: “Come, come.” - -Then all was silence. - -A quarter of an hour later Hans once more lifted his instrument.... He -stopped, startled. - -Immediately to the north, silhouetted against the bright sky in the -opening of the valley, an elk bull stood on a mountain ridge. Hans -could see the sky between its legs and also two ears and enormous, -shovel-shaped antlers. - -The elk did not move, and stood out like a statue against the sky above -the valley. - -Gaupa cocked his gun. “Rauten,” he whispered, and it sounded like a -sob. He had seen the mutilated ear. At that moment the bull stepped -down from the ridge, straight towards them, and darkness hid him from -their view. - -Then they heard “Örrke—örrk,” a kind of nasal grunt, approaching -nearer and nearer. A dry twig cracked, and in the clearing a pine -stump shimmered with a greyish gleam. The roar from Ré River seemed -far distant, as if withdrawn, but suddenly it sounded close again, the -forest gave a sigh, and Gaupa saw a lichen tuft move slightly just -above Hans’s head. - -Then the noise of the elk ceased as if suddenly cut off. There was not -a sound. The minutes crawled past. There was still silence. - -Gaupa turned. - -“Weathered!” he whispered. - -But Rauten trotted northwards along the edge of the long Ré marshes -hour after hour. He had heard the luring call of a cow, went to meet -her, and found man. What a strange thing to happen!... And Rauten ran -on. It is bad to be where man is. - -[Illustration] - - -§ 18 - -It was the same autumn, later on in September, one night at Lynx Hut. - -Bjönn was asleep on the bed. “The Tempest” hung on the wall. A wooden -box, converted, formed Gaupa’s cobbler’s workshop. A tiny paraffin -lamp gave him a sleepy light for the work he had in hand, mending a -shoe. On the box awls, plugs, tacks, waxed thread, and heel irons were -heaped together, for Gaupa was very far from being a tidy man. - -The patch finished, he pulled out from under the bed a violin case, -took out his instrument and turned it round in his hands as softly as -if caressing it. Then he lifted it to his chin and made a stroke to -test the tuning, but when he touched the tenor and bass strings the -violin sang so sadly, sweetly, and wildly at the same time, just the -tune that will sometimes rise up out of black, hidden river-filled -gullies. The violin was tuned for magic. - -A lively country dance leaped from the strings. Bjönn woke up and -opened his eyes, but shut them again. A few dying embers glowed red -through the draught-hole in the stove, and when Gaupa had finished and -sat in deep reflection the sound of a watch ticking filled the silence. -It was getting on for one o’clock in the morning, but that was Gaupa’s -most wide-awake hour. - -Steps were heard outside, and Bjönn barked. “Whisht,” said Gaupa. There -was a knock, Gaupa unlocked his door, which as it happened he had -locked that night. - -“Evening,” said somebody in the dark. - -“Evening,” Gaupa replied; “are you out walking so late?” - -Hans Holmen stood outside, exactly in the line between darkness and -the yellow lamplight from within. His coat was unbuttoned and a nickel -watchchain gleamed across his waistcoat. He carried a fishing-rod over -one shoulder, and Gaupa saw the white top move softly in the dark. - -“Oh,” said Hans Holmen again, “it’s early rather than late. It is just -about one o’clock.” - -Gaupa waited. Full well he knew that Hans must have a very special -reason for coming in the night like that. - -Then Hans began to relate how he was fishing along the river. There -was a dense thicket of bushes growing along the bank and he was well -hidden. While he was baiting his hook an enormous animal came out of -the undergrowth just to the south of him. At first he thought it was a -horse, and wondered why it had no bell, and besides it was not quite -the shape of a horse either. When the animal waded out into the river -he saw it against the sky-line and recognised it as an elk of unusual -size. - -Hans Holmen went close up to Gaupa. He lowered his voice as if telling -a secret. - -“‘Twas the wizard elk I saw,” he said; “I saw the mark of your knife.” - -He waited. - -“Well,” he summed up the situation, “I thought I’d better tell you, -when I saw the light in your window. That elk waded across the river -and went up the other side, so now you know where to find his spoor.” - -Hans Holmen left, and Gaupa closed the door. He remained for some -seconds staring down on the floor, standing in his shirt and trousers. - -But out on the high road Hans Holmen went straight homewards and not -towards the river. - -In Lynx Hut the petroleum lamp was still burning. Gaupa went to and fro -slowly, busy as usual. He baked potato flap-jacks on his stove, filled -the wooden butter cup, and made ready for a tramp with his knapsack, -Bjönn, and “The Tempest.” - -About three o’clock he went to the corner cupboard, and after some -fumbling produced an old-fashioned leather purse. Out of it he took -a slightly flattened lead bullet, as big as a small potato, dirty, -knobby, and rough. - -That bullet had a name, for it was called the Swede’s Bullet. Gaupa’s -father was a soldier at Matrand in 1814, and he shot a Swede who was -standing against a tree-trunk. The bullet went straight through him -and into the bole of the tree. Afterwards his father picked out that -bullet, and ever since the family had regarded it as a priceless -possession. - -It could heal wounds and cure illness as well as any doctor. Gaupa -never forgot the old crofter who had an ulcer in his leg. Gaupa went -to him with the Swede’s Bullet and stroked the leg with it in a circle -round the ulcer. From that day the ulcer stopped spreading; it could -not pass outside the circle where the Swede’s bullet had touched the -skin. - -But then Gaupa reflected whether he should sacrifice the priceless lump -of lead and melt it into a bullet for Rauten. - -Rauten, being no ordinary elk, could probably not be killed by ordinary -bullets. All the old people believed that there are many animals which -demand a special ammunition if you want to shoot them. - -But should he really give up the Swede’s bullet? - -If it could assist him to kill the wizard elk, the whole district would -look upon him as a great man. He would be famous in the valley, and -the fact would not easily be forgotten that he was the man who killed -Rauten. - -For many years he had avoided the beast. For to be quite honest he had -to admit that bad luck followed the one who hunted it. Why was he so -ill when he shot at the wizard elk at Morsæter? They saw the spoor and -knew what animal it was which he saw like a vision in the moonlight. - -But while he was conscious of his childish fear of Rauten, he always -felt a tantalising desire to see the end of him, to kill him, and cart -that enormous body down into the Lower Valley, to exhibit it to the -dalesmen and listen to their comments. - -Oh what a day that would be! The small boys would gaze at him and Bjönn -in deep admiration not unmingled with fear, and the old women would -shake their heads knowingly and predict disaster to him.... - -The Swede’s bullet weighed heavily in his hand, heavier than ordinary -lead. Unknown forces were imprisoned in the metal, and it must not -go out of the family’s possession. But Gaupa had no relatives in the -Valley. He was an only child, his parents were dead, all his other -kinsmen had gone away across the Blue Atlantic. When he died the -Swede’s bullet would be homeless, so to speak, and that ought not to -happen. - -Gaupa decided to melt down the Swede’s Bullet. - -He made a big fire in the stove under a kind of small pan in which he -usually melted his lead. He gazed very earnestly at the Swede’s bullet -as it lost form and flattened down until at last it was one big drop of -lead in the pan, glittering like a flame, as mysterious as a mountain -lake under the moon. - -Suddenly Bjönn, who lay upon the bed, grew restless. He looked up at -his master, whimpering softly. What on earth was the matter with the -dog? “Quiet!” said Gaupa. - -Bjönn rolled himself up again, head under tail. But when Gaupa poured -the molten lead into the bullet mould, the dog once more raised his -head and whined. - -How strange! Was the dog ill? Perhaps it was rheumatism. For Bjönn was -growing old. He had the pale-blue eyes and the dimmed pupils which -indicate age. But he was fairly brisk as yet. What was it he carried on -like that for? - -[Illustration] - -Gaupa went up to the dog and stroked his head. Bjönn flattened his ears -as a sign of content and calmed down. - -The lead had cooled, and Gaupa took out the bullet, fresh and shiny. -But it was not like other bullets. It had killed once; it knew its way, -and wherever this bullet hit the elk’s body, death would radiate from -it as if from a poisoned arrow. Heaven have mercy upon Rauten! - -Bjönn again raised his head, whimpering, when Gaupa placed the bullet -in the cartridge. - -It was four o’clock in the morning. He extinguished the lamp and crept -to bed beside Bjönn. Now and then he opened his eyes to look for dawn -through the window. - - -§ 19 - -That morning an elk bull lay quietly at the upper end of Owl Glen. It -was Rauten. He had come from the other side of the valley from the -eastern mountains. A dog with a terrible voice in his throat had chased -him for half a day, and at last Rauten had swum across Lower Valley -River. - -But he wanted to go back to Ré Valley, for that was his home. There for -months peace reigned in the woods until it entered his own shaggy body -and made him at one with the deep silence of the mountains. - -Peace was the depth of his nature. He wanted to see, unseen. He liked -to stand at the edge of the bogs, looking at the capercailzie hen with -all her brood. He liked to see the ever-frightened hare nibbling the -grass undisturbed. That was peace, and each day offered fresh joys, -however old—a feed of juicy grass not yet withered in some marshy -place, a few waterlilies in a mountain lakelet. For him life was food, -sleep, and rest, and then feeding again. Life was light and darkness, -sun and rain, heat and cold. - -He slept at all times of day and night, but as lightly as if even -in his sleep all the tiny sounds of the wilderness reached his -consciousness. They floated about his ears, and the least unusual -crackling let them all into his brain at once, and he was wide awake. - -Rauten lived on his instinct—that is, on the experiences accumulated -by countless generations through all ages and in all countries. -Experiences had glided into him as murmuring brooklets run into the sea. - -When he ran towards the wind, and not before it, it was because he had -to do so. When he ran away from the scent of man, elks long since dead -whispered soundless warnings in his ears. The fear of man was a seed -which had been growing since the first arrow flew twirling and singing -into the shoulder of an elk and caused life to ebb out of it. - -Rauten was lying in Owl Glen this grey morning, with the sleepy murmur -from Lower River before him, and a tiny trickle of water over the rocks -beside him. That little trickle was a tiny life. A drop fell, and there -was an attentive silence, then another drop splashed. Higher up in -the glen an owl sat immovable, big sprouts of feather sprouting from -the head, yellow eyes staring blindly at the daylight, her beak still -bloody after the night’s hunting. - -Far below Gaupa was following an elk’s spoor, breathing heavily. He -held Bjönn on the leash, and the dog nosed the earth as if seeking -something. Once in a while he would snort and tug hard, straight into -the mountain, into Owl Glen. - -The glen was narrow, with walls of rock on either side, the mountain -ash glowing in autumnal glory, and the bracken turning gold. A hawk -flew out with a cry, and the sound echoed backwards and forwards from -rock to rock, growing into a strong volume of sound, like a loud call -in empty space. - -The man and the dog crawled upwards. Suddenly Bjönn threw up his head. -He had caught the open scent, and Gaupa unfastened the dog’s collar, -quietly and carefully. - -When the foresters lie in their huts on long winter evenings they often -tell of Gaupa and Bjönn and the wizard elk. - -The old men amongst them still remember from their boyhood the wild -chase which began that morning in Owl Glen, and lasted one day, two -days, three days. The end came on the night of the third day. - -Rauten lay peacefully in Owl Glen, his ears on the alert, one cocked -forwards and the other backwards. - -Then he started up from his lair, and ran. The wakeful conscience -of the woods had been disturbed. A small pebble loosened and fell -clattering downwards, a black deer-hound with a grey nose and grey legs -ran out from amongst the scrub, the elk bull turned tail, and strode -westwards on his long legs. That was the beginning. Down in Lower -Valley the parlour clocks struck seven, and the chimneys gave forth -light smoke into the grey morning. - -A little later a man stood where the two had left, staring into the -west. - -He opened his mouth as if to inhale something from the air. He placed -his hand behind his ear, inclining his head, his mouth always open. -His eyes were far away from the world about him. They looked at the -earth, but in the far distance. - -The hills swam westwards towards the naked bulk of Ré Mountain, wave -upon wave in long, easy swell. - -Two animals were running towards Ré Mountain, a big one in front, a -smaller one after. They were fighting over the distance between them, -at times increasing and then again diminishing. The elk ploughed -through the undergrowth with his long, heavy body, his antlers swishing -through the green pine needles, his legs clip-clapping evenly and -surely. When he lifted them his hoofs touched with a sound like dry -sticks beating each other. Once in a while an antler would bang heavily -against a tree-trunk. - -Rauten kept up a steady, even trot; his flight was unhurried and -unafraid, as was in keeping with the greatest beast in the forest, the -strongest and wildest of elks, between valley and mountain. He ran -because somehow it seemed wise, not because he was afraid. His nozzle -was raised almost horizontally and his antlers lay along his back. - -Bjönn ran after him. His tongue had grown too long—protruding out of -his mouth, his eyes were wild, and the earth burnt his paws, which -barely touched the ground only to fly up again. He divided up the -distance in lightning leaps. Pine needles clung to his fur, and the -shaggy body of the dog flew along like some enormous insect. - -Gaupa was forgotten in the dog’s mind, all men were forgotten. He went -back thousands of years when the wolves howled along elk spoors in Ré -Valley. He was one of them, a dog which no man’s hand had caressed, and -no man’s eyes had subdued. - -Those grey, fleeting elk legs in front of him called up a bloodthirsty -song in his sinews. Passion howled within him, and off and on when he -gained on the elk his throat howled out. It was not Bjönn from Lynx -Hut, it was the voice of dead wolves returning. - -His nose no longer sought the earth, he ran through a thick reek of -scent. Every breath filled his nostrils with the maddening smell of -game, and everything about him seemed to run. Red pine trunks ran to -meet him and Rauten, spruce trees crawled forward, jumping across the -marshes. They were left behind, but fresh ones came again and again and -again. - -Gaupa lifted his head. His eyes returned from the far distance and -sought a certain point on the western slopes, a spruce-clad hillock -where the silver birches blazed like a flame, and there his gazed -fixed. From that hillock came a sound, sudden and unexpected, like a -spark from a fire of thorns. - -“Wow!” It was a dog’s voice, clear and strained, let out of a throat -which had quite enough to do with mere breathing. - -The voice on the hillock spoke no more. - -Gaupa remained in Owl Glen. He did not hurry. He wanted to be quite -sure where Rauten was going, and from his post he could hear half a -league away. - -A short time afterwards Bjönn barked from the same place, deep-voiced -and growling, as a watch-dog barks at strangers. Rauten was at bay! - -“Wow! Wow! Wow!” - -Then Gaupa began to run, his gun in his hand, its muzzle glaring black, -and inside there was a cartridge with the Swede’s Bullet. - -Gaupa was hidden in the forest, but appeared again on a hillock -farther on, stopped listening as he pushed back his lucky cap. Then he -was submerged in the greenery once more. - -The dog’s voice to the west was the only token of life on the slopes, -breaking the silence incessantly at short, regular intervals like the -ticking of a grandfather’s clock. - -Bjönn was barking at some close-grown spruce copse. It looked as if he -were talking to it, again and again without receiving any answer. - -In there amongst the spruce bushes some thin, grey tree trunks seemed -to move once in a while. They were the elk’s legs. Some rough boughs -with brown bark, just like a small bush, moved amongst the spruce -needles. They were the elk’s antlers. - -Rauten stood there. Apparently he was not very much concerned about the -dog. He turned his head here and there, as if he had a suspicion of -something intangible yet dangerous in the forest around him. - -Whenever Rauten met that tiny, shaggy, barking animal, which smelt of -man, the forest seemed to become unsafe for him, wherever he went. -Perhaps it was a reminiscence from that autumn when his mother fell -north of Black Mountain, when she blew a golden dust out of her -nostrils and moved no more. Ever since that day he had the same feeling -when he met a dog. Something alive was close to him, something he could -not see, but which he knew was there all the same. From every tree, -from every copse something spied upon him; fear threatened from them -all.... - -He felt it then, as he drew his breath after the long run from Owl -Glen. He did not catch the scent of Gaupa over there, or he would not -have stopped so soon. - -“Wow! Wow!” - -At each bark Bjönn threw up his nozzle, half closing his eyes, his ears -flattened backwards and teeth gleaming. Then he looked at Rauten a -little and barked a little again, somewhat quietly, as if to convince -Rauten that he was not dangerous at all. He was only out for a friendly -chat.... - -Suddenly the spruce copse vomited a long grey figure, and Rauten’s -fore-feet stood where Bjönn had been but was no longer, for Bjönn knew -his business and needed no time to get out of the way. - -“Wow! Wow!” - -Once more there was nothing but those restless grey tree trunks and -those brownish-grey living branches in the undergrowth. - -But then Bjönn was once more the dog he really was, the dog from Lynx -Hut, a beast who took his food from Gaupa’s hand. - -As he regarded the elk’s rough throat until he imagined it between his -own teeth, he remembered the throats of other elks, which Gaupa used -to cut open so that Bjönn could drink the blood. That happened quite -often when the deer were standing still among the copses, and the idea -made Bjönn look round expectantly. Gaupa ought to come and make thunder -about him, the elk ought to stagger, fall on one side, and remain on -the earth. “Wow! Wow!” - -But Rauten had come to the conclusion that the thing which disconcerted -him was something very real, which made dry twigs crackle, and so he -ran on again. Bjönn whimpered with disappointment and followed him. The -steady barking ceased. - -Beads of sweat appeared on Gaupa’s bald head as he ran. When he heard -how the elk had broken away he swore softly, being wholly and entirely -out of breath. - -[Illustration] - - -§ 20 - -It was late in the day when the snow began to fall. - -The first snowflake came alone, thin and light as down. - -The flake could not keep its equilibrium, but flew here and there -aimlessly, and took its own time about settling down on earth. It had -been on earth before, swimming in the white marsh mist one raw morning -in the autumn. Afterwards it had lived where the clouds live, but now -it came down again and settled on an aspen leaf, white on red, the -first snow of winter. - -Little by little the air filled with innumerable white butterflies, -floating down from the heavens, a gift from God to earth and man, -falling, falling. - -On the Tolleivsæter Mountain which falls off steeply towards Ré Valley -two animals were crawling, one larger, the other small. The first was -Rauten, the other was Bjönn. - -They followed a narrow gully in the mountain, a chasm which meandered -downwards first to the north, then southwards, and then north again. -It was no more than a narrow ledge in the mountain where the animals -walked. They were hanging at the edge of an abyss and far below the -bottom of the valley made a dark shadow in the white whirl. - -Rauten led the way, and there was no longer anything long and clumsy -about him now. His feet felt each step, carefully seeking a foothold. -The knee-joints bent with a little noise, once in a while his hoofs -slid a little and scraped the grey reindeer moss. - -After him went Bjönn, crouching and frightened, without a sound. They -were climbing between earth and heaven, but the snowflakes danced past -them into the abyss, and Ré River was heard faintly somewhere far below. - -Thus the elk and the dog went on, slowly, slowly. Once they passed -some large black holes among the rocks, and then both Rauten and Bjönn -felt very uncomfortable. Rauten stopped, his nostrils dilated and eyes -ablaze, Bjönn lowered his tail and sniffed towards the rocks, his -muzzle quivering, for the animal after which he was named had been in -there recently to seek for a winter lair. - -After a long time the elk and the dog reached the foot of the mountain. -Rauten tore through the birch bushes, and the dog’s voice woke up -again. They came to a deep gully—two rocky precipices and between -them water boiling into foam far below.... Rauten leapt twice his own -length. He flew through the air before he reached earth once more, and -ran on. Bjönn made a detour, found a short cut, and when Rauten sprang -into Ré River he was not alone. Two splashes were heard from the river, -one for the elk and one for the dog, and they ran on straight up the -western slope, Bjönn now and then giving vent to short barks. - -After a while Gaupa reached the eastern slope. He was like a well-wrung -rag. His cap was in his pocket now, his hair was plastered to his -skull, his eyes were red and strained, like those of one who has kept -awake many nights. His mouth was gaping open, the muscles of his jaws -being too tired to keep it shut. - -He stopped to regain his breath. What time could it be? Nearly two. -He thought as much. Six, seven hours had passed since Bjönn had begun -driving the wizard elk. Gaupa had heard the song from the dog’s throat -many times that day, east and west. He had been north and south, God -only knows exactly where he had been, running and walking. He had -stopped at all the well-known elk stations, but Rauten had passed them -all, for he did not run like other elks. And now it was two hours since -Gaupa had last heard Bjönn. - -Gaupa laid his hand behind his ear as he had done that morning in Owl -Glen. He tried to hold his breath so that it should not drown the -slightest sound in the silence of Ré Valley. He seemed to listen for a -message from the snowflakes, but the flakes bore no message. They were -like a whirling swarm of silent butterflies. Only when he turned his -back to the weather, the flying atoms battered on his knapsack with a -barely audible sound as from elfin artillery. - -He sat down. The mountains about him were changing their colour, -growing white. The weather lightened a little and the earth was -revealed, far, far away. He saw Gipsy Lake straight below, pitch black -amongst the whiteness. - -Hark! - -Out of the north-west came a sound, the bark of an almost exhausted -dog, a slight break in the silence. Gaupa lifted his head; his entire -face, framed in dark beard, stiffened with excitement. - -Was that Bjönn? Yes it was! He saw the mountain ridges west of the -valley and followed their outlines northwards, as they rose and -sank, wave upon wave towards the sky. And farthest north two specks -grew out of their white slopes, one larger than the other. First they -grew in size, then they rapidly diminished, and at last they vanished -altogether. - -Bjönn and Rauten had gone into the western mountains. Well, Gaupa had -better follow them. - -He found a descent not far from where he stood, and went at a jog-trot -across the marshes around Gipsy Lake. - -Then came the western slope, a sky-high precipice difficult to ascend. -The minutes crawled slowly, as evening shadows pass over the fields. -And Gaupa crept slowly upwards. - -Once or twice he lay down on his back, face upturned. A few snowflakes -settled on his skin. They felt like a wet tongue licking him, -pleasantly cool. He gathered a little snow from the heather about him, -placing it against his hot head, enjoying the coolness of it. - -Then he rose and went on his way. A dry branch hooked on to his -trousers and made a big rent in them. He heard the brooks grow -strangely mute; their voices were no longer natural, and when close at -hand they sounded far off. And in his ears there rang a song, thin and -high like the buzzing of a gnat. - -Oh to lie down and rest, rest a long, long time.... Nonsense, Bjönn and -Rauten had gone westwards, and Gaupa had better follow them. - -In an hour he reached the barren mountain, the naked bulk of which -stretched before him. About a league to the west was another valley, -Three Valley. Gaupa knew that an elk would occasionally go there when -fleeing from a hound. It had happened often to himself and Bjönn. -Probably Rauten had gone that way too. - -But he had to rest before descending. He took out food from his -knapsack and tried to eat, only his mouth was so dry that it was like -biting sawdust. There seemed to be no moisture left in his mouth. - -Ever since the chase began Gaupa had not rightly considered the fact -that Bjönn was following no ordinary elk. Mystical ideas do not -generally go with laboured running in broad daylight. - -Then his brain was so strangely empty and weak. He felt as if the power -of reasoning had been sweated out of him. His head seemed full of -mist, out of which the ideas could not find their way. They worked at -the things nearest and immediate, with the spoors and the chase. - -But he knew that Rauten would have great difficulty in leaving Bjönn -that day. Bjönn was well-rested, his paws hardened and muscles as tough -as pemmican—very devil of a rugged deer-hound ready to follow an elk to -Hallingdal—or even to the valley beyond that. - -Gaupa jogged along west once more. He felt better after his rest, and -he began to think. The people of the valley had given him a nickname, -Gaupa, the Lynx, although by rights his name was Sjur Renden, as could -be seen on his baptismal certificate as well as on his assessment—and -they called his hut Lynx Hut, although the correct name was “Elvely” -(River Shelter). Christened so by the parson who happened to pass by -when they were building it. - -But if they had given him a nickname like that, by hell, they should be -made to respect it and to recognise the fact that he did honour to the -name, for he would show them that he was a Lynx who could go on when -other men failed. He would chase him into hottest hell, that elk with -the enormous antlers and the restless soul of the Swede. And when he, -Gaupa, returned to Lower Valley, clothes in rags and hands bloody, the -news would spread like wildfire that Rauten was killed, shot somewhere -in the western mountains towards Hallingdal—driven out of Owl Glen -at seven in the morning—and the man who shot him was no other than -Gaupa—of course. - -And even the papers would print the fact: “The well-known hunter Sjur -Renden....” - -[Illustration] - -Thoughts slipped away again, as fatigue filled his body once more after -the rest his brain held nothing but mist, mist. But somewhere in his -consciousness one thing remained hard and fast, the thing that said, -“Run, run, for God’s sake run.” Such was the will of Gaupa, the slayer -of elks. - - -§ 21 - -In the Three Valley a dog had opened full cry, a glorious cry, for his -quarry was standing still. - -Rauten stood still because he was so tired that he had to. During the -last run earth seemed unstable beneath him, and wherever he went he -saw a lair before him, full of peace and quiet; he might go to rest -under that spruce, or there—and there. Only he could not get rid of -that eternal worrying by a big black fox that followed him like his own -meaningless shadow. He had tried everything—climbing mountains, jumping -across gullies, but the dog followed him with an endless succession of -angry barks. - -In the course of all those hours those barks had become no more than -a habit to the ear; they did not feel like real terror any more, only -a slight fear, a subconsciousness of danger. But Rauten was at length -compelled to rest now, standing in a spruce copse in Three Valley. - -Bjönn was there, lying down. The dog also was nearly spent. His legs -seemed to have disappeared of late, and when they ran it was from -innate habit. - -Several times he had crossed the spoors of Gaupa. The earth threw up -the familiar scent into his nostrils, like a message from his master to -say that he was there, only “Go on!” And Bjönn went on, he was going -for ever now. - -His hair was soaking wet; both he and the elk were steaming like -fast-running horses in cold weather. The snow lay on the heather like -white wool, a frozen bilberry stood up from it, a reminiscence of -summer in the midst of winter. Two pine trunks rose tall, straight, and -copper-red behind both the animals. - -“Wow! Wow!” said Bjönn. There was an interval between each bark, and -his voice was so hoarse as hardly to be recognised. He snatched a -mouthful of snow now and then, for his thirst. “Wow!” - -Both animals felt themselves stiffening after they stopped. Rauten had -a broad gash across one of his thighs made by a dry branch. There was -reproach in his eyes as they regarded the little animal before him, -whom he had never hurt and who would not let him be in peace. But -rest, rest, that was all, the only thing.... Rauten stood still. - -In the meanwhile Gaupa was hurrying westwards towards Three Valley. His -footfall made no sound in the snow, as if he were running on soft moss. -He jogged along, walked at times, eating snow. - -He found the spoors of the dog and elk, indistinct but unmistakable: -long lines across a tuft of wiregrass from the elk hoofs, and close by -them clear marks of Bjönn’s paws. He followed the spoors with childish -joy, lost them, found them again, and made straight for Three Valley. - -All idea of time had long since left him. Only the mountain seemed -endless. The snow continued to fall, and the ever-falling white flakes -made him dizzy. At last he saw a tall, narrow rock on a ridge before -him, a rock exactly like a tall chimney, that he knew to be on the -slope towards Three Valley. - -He was soon there. The earth sank before him, the valley could be -seen—thin forest on the slopes, long marshes with a sleepy river, a -large lake, a white summer pasture with a couple of dark houses, far -away near the bend of the valley. - -A pang of joy rang through Gaupa, vivifying and exciting, for a dog’s -bark floated out in the grey air straight below him from the slope. - -More barks followed; the whole valley filled with the song of it. Gaupa -wondered at the sound. “Poor old dog, he has gone hoarse,” thought he. -But what a dog! He was an animal without blemish, no dog like him. He -would soon have assistance, warm drink, a taste of warm meat.... - -Gaupa slipped down the wooded slopes quickly and carefully. Just down -there, just down there, he thought time after time. Ten minutes, five -minutes more, and the Swede’s Bullet should fly unseen from the muzzle -of “The Tempest.” - -The next day he would return to Lower Valley, clothes in rags, with -bloody hands. And Martin Lyhus would have to take his pipe out of his -mouth to ask, staring in astonishment: - -“What is it you say? Have you shot him?” - -Gaupa stopped to make sure of the movement of the air.... He was in -luck, it was straight against him. He could see it in the flying snow. -But it would soon clear up. The flakes were restless, flying about like -gnats, not falling quietly. That was a sure sign of approaching clear -weather. - -Gaupa followed a small spruce-grown gully in the slope, and just in -front of him, very close now, stood Bjönn holding the wizard elk in -check. To Gaupa stealing downwards, the forest grew alive, every -tree listened for the dog’s barking, he felt as if on the point of -discovering a wonderful secret. - -He could not see the animals and heard only one, though he knew there -were two. He stopped to look round for cover, and observed something -strange about his hands. He stood petrified looking at them, he did not -recognise them as his own. They were trembling now, however much he -willed them not to do—trembling in spite of himself. - -Then he felt a slight shiver in his whole body, something he could -not control—and a cool feeling across the lower part of his body. The -hunter’s shivers! he thought. - -“Wow!” was heard from below, and then a sudden silence. Gaupa held his -breath, waiting for the next bark. Surely he could not have frightened -him? The wind could not have turned, taking his scent with it to those -sensitive nostrils?... Then the barking started again, Rauten was still -standing—like a rock. - -Gaupa could not rid himself of this inexplicable trembling, and he -could not shoot while it lasted. He was no longer the master of his -own body, he was not the real Gaupa any more. The real Gaupa had never -shivered before an elk—the devil he hadn’t! - -Now he really had to be calm. For ten hours dog and man had been hard -at work. At last they were at their goal, nearly near enough to touch -it, and his hand trembled; he might make a false movement, and the goal -might once more dart away to unknown distances. - -He knelt down, filled his hands with snow and held it to his skull. It -cooled first, then felt too cold. - -Bjönn suddenly gave the angry bark which tokened that his prey was -escaping, the bark so well known to Gaupa that the sound of it raised -anger within him.... - -Escaped again! - -[Illustration] - -Gaupa stayed kneeling while the thawing snow ran in big drops down his -head. His dark-blue eyes changed colour. They were lighter and glazed. -His lucky cap was white with snow; his gun lay in the hollow of his -arm, held tight to his breast—lay as if listening like Gaupa himself. - -Silence. Dead silence. Running water somewhere in Three Valley gave an -echo of life. - -Gaupa rose. Silence. No barking then. - -He ran out of the hollow up to a bare ridge. Then he heard Bjönn again -and he understood that the dog was running beside the elk, even in -front of him now and then. He could even see the two animals on the -long marshes at the bottom of the valley. Rauten ran his jogging even -trot, long and tall, forever turning his head from one side or the -other as if listening. “A hopeless range,” thought Gaupa. Distance -was simply mocking him. At such a range he would not dare to risk the -Swede’s Bullet. - -The elk crossed Three River and his legs raised white arches of -water. Bjönn swam and was on the other side as soon as Rauten. They -disappeared, but were seen again, Rauten heading straight for Three -Lake. - -Gaupa threw back his rifle, breathed deeply and went down the slope. - - * * * * * - -Rauten and Bjönn came to Three Lake, which lay black and still as -night. A waterlily leaf was riding on the surface at rest. The whole -lake was all peace, and the green heart-shaped leaf in conjunction with -the two animals, the hunted and the hunter, formed as it were a picture -of the very life of the wilderness, eternal peace of eternal time, -painful efforts of the moment, life or death. - -Rauten went straight into the lake, making openings in its smooth -surface with his hoofs, cutting it with his thin legs where he waded -out quickly, the water rising along his shoulders and flanks. A -startled trout ran out from under the bank like a shadow across the -white sand into the dark depths. Beside the elk was Bjönn, swimming. - -The water gurgled higher and higher about Rauten; at last he swam, his -snout so low that he ploughed through the water like a boat’s keel. -Bjönn scraped the elk’s back with one paw, found no hold, and tried -again. Then he caught the mane with his teeth and soon stood on the -back of the wizard elk who was swimming across Three Lake. - -The dog did not feel worn out then. He was tasting the fiercest joy. -Under him he heard the laboured breath of Rauten, felt the entire huge -body trembling with effort, muscles hardening and slackening as the elk -trod the water. It was Bjönn from Lynx Hut, sailing! The elderly elk -hunter from Lower Valley who never gave up from dawn to dusk—even to -another dawn. - -Then he poured out his joy from his hoarse, dry throat, and mingling -with his song of conquest came the groans from Rauten, who was -swimming, wild-eyed. He steered towards a pine top on the farther side -of the lake. Terror sat on his back as he swam for his life. Once he -felt teeth in his back, and the same icy shiver ran through him as -ran through his forefathers when they broke down in the snow with the -wolves swarming fiercely over them. - -Bjönn bent down and tugged a big tuft of hair out of the elk’s back he -dropped it on the water, where it remained floating. - -“Wow! Wow!” - -He plucked out another tuft. - -One might say a raft was sailing along the water, with Rauten’s horns -for rowlocks. - -Bjönn noticed a tall tree-stump moving across the marshes. It was -Gaupa, his master, and his pride knew no bounds. He could conquer every -elk from one mountain to the other, if they were many times his own -size. He could drive them, bark exhaustion into them, until at last he -would drink his fill out of their throats. “Wow! Wow! Wow!” - -Gaupa crouched on the marshes north of Three Lake. - -He was in pain. The elk’s head and Bjönn floated away farther and -farther, and if he were to shoot there was an even chance that he might -shoot his dog as easily as the elk. But when Rauten went ashore he -would try a shot, howover hopeless. - -The Swede’s Bullet could not be risked at such uncertain range, and -therefore he changed cartridges quickly. Then he crouched in position -for shooting, left elbow on left knee. His cheek caressed the gun. He -sat immovable, a huntsman stiffened in the last decisive movement of -the hunt. - -He trembled no more, although the tension burnt in him like a hidden -fire. He saw out of the water a large body grow through the falling -snow. - -And one of Gaupa’s eyes shut as if sleepy. The other, however, was -open, and icy cold. He did not breathe, his whole body was taut calm. -“The Tempest” roared, shooting out its breath with a white handful of -smoke, and for a moment Gaupa’s ears were plugged up with sound. - -But Rauten, who was wading ashore, heard something like a woodpecker -hammering at a tree on the shore. Then came the roar of the shot, -behind him, and he stretched himself off into the forest, a rain of -waterdrops about him. Bjönn followed. - -[Illustration] - - -§ 22 - -Gaupa pursued the chase once more. - -Dusk was falling. He did not hear Bjönn any longer, but he had the -spoor. - -The weather cleared up towards evening. The sky seemed to absorb the -snowflakes, making them light and dry. The heavens became fixed and -formed a pale-yellow dome over the earth. - -The silence increased after the shot and the barking. A man followed a -spoor in the new snow, but Sjur Renden did not run any more. He walked! - -His face showed signs of utter exhaustion. The cheek, chin, and eyelids -were hanging down. His mouth, too, hung open, although he did not -breathe heavily. The corners of his mouth were drawn into a grimace of -contempt. - -The marshes were white, but the ground under the trees was not covered -with snow. The woods had assumed an air of solemn grandeur which was -not diminished by the oncoming dusk. - -Gaupa was fairly staggering. That last effort near Three Lake seemed to -have drained his last forces. All the same he went on and on, always -showing that grin of contempt, as if he were mocking at the elk spoor -before him. - -In the middle of an open space where the pines had once been burnt -down and never grown up again to their former state, he stroked his -eyes with the back of his hand, as people do when they wake up and yet -are not really awake. - -He walked on a few steps, stopped again and touched his eyes. What -devilry disturbed his sight? He saw as clearly as clearly a shiny -yellow moon, not quite round, but slightly elliptical as the moon is -when she is on the wane. This moon stood in the air a few gun-lengths -before his eyes and it moved when he moved. It was so blazingly, -glaringly yellow that it made the air gleam yellow. Gaupa felt as if -everything glowed and blazed before him. The very dusk flamed. He was -dazzled, and shut his eyes for a long time. When he opened them again -the air was as it ought to be, soft and nearly dark. But after a few -steps that idiotic moon came back. - -He knew well enough what moon this was. He had seen it before. -Over-exertion, curse it. And his knees felt as they always did when -that glaring yellow moon appeared. All the sinews seemed to have been -taken out of his joints, all elasticity had left his legs. They moved -about anyhow beneath him, without his volition. - -Then Gaupa went under a spruce tree and lay face downwards. His face -touched some whortleberry ling and he could smell the soil. A bunch -of berries caught his eyes, a large, bright red bunch, and they made -so intense an impression on him that he seemed to feel the juice -seething inside them. Never in all his life had he seen so red a bunch -of whortleberries. His eager hands seized them and pushed them into -his mouth. He crushed them with his tongue and their juice ran in his -dry mouth, an exquisite joy. He looked for more berries, crawling on -all-fours round the spruce tree like a child—an oldish man with a -flowing beard. - -While doing this he saw Bjönn coming, keeping to the spoor, going -backwards. The dog gave up before reaching his master, and lay down a -little way off. He was utterly exhausted. - -Gaupa went up to him, knelt down, talking to him and stroking him. -And it seemed to him that those dog’s eyes spoke. Why had he not come -when Rauten stood still on the northern slopes? they asked. Why had -he missed when the wizard elk rose up from Three Lake? Bjönn had done -what he could, the dog’s eyes declared. All the same Rauten was running -about in the valley, free, unwounded. - -Gaupa sat still, stroking Bjönn’s head. - -“I also could do no more,” he said aloud; “but wait till to-morrow.” - -The weather cleared up as evening came on. The sky turned blue as the -sea, the stars twinkled like tiny lanterns, some clear white, some -dullish red. In a small barn near Three River Gaupa and Bjönn slept. - -Farthest out in the valley where the moon was rising like a yellow -lantern where earth and sky met an elk stood for a long time snuffing -towards the north. He was dripping wet. After a while he lay down, and -the snow thawed slowly under him. - -Thus Rauten lay all that night, his eyes ever open, ears alive, -nostrils working. Towards morning it was so cold that his wet back grew -white with hoar-frost. - - -§ 23 - -About dawn Gaupa and Bjönn dug themselves out from the hay in the barn. - -Gaupa had lost his matches the day before, and could make no fire. The -only way was to bury himself in the contents of the barn. - -His shoes stood frozen stiff at the door. They were so hard that it was -out of the question to put them on. He tried many times, but in vain. -To wait for the sun to thaw them would take too long—so he thawed them -with the warmth of his own body. They softened, and soon after he and -Bjönn were following the spoor of the wizard elk. - -They found his night lair where the snow was thawed and some hairs lay -about. But Rauten had left several hours before, Gaupa could read that -much in the spoor. It had hardened, there was a crust on, and also -Bjönn told him they were not near him yet. - -They chased the elk from sunrise to sunset. - -The spoors were there, and there was something alive about them. Every -mark of the hoofs meant a movement forwards—one footmark after the -other from one slope to another, an endless chase. - -The spoor, so strangely alive, kept Gaupa’s interest warm. It was like -turning leaf after leaf of an exciting book where the end cannot be -guessed. - -Once they found fresh excrements after Rauten, and Bjönn grew doubly -eager after smelling them. But Gaupa would not let go until he was -fairly sure of being near enough. - -He did not think much that day either of the fact that he was hunting -no ordinary earthly animal; Rauten was only an elk who had wandered for -many years among Ré Mountains, mocking all efforts on the part of those -who tried to get at him. He was the elk that Gaupa himself had rather -avoided. But now he would measure himself against him. As long as he -had a bite of food, as long as Bjönn could move, he would stick to that -spoor—and he swore loudly and forcibly. - -He went towards the west for several hours. The weather was wonderfully -fine. The mountain plains in their majestic calm reflected the sunlight -like a mirror. The light dazzled his eyes and made him sun-blind. -Little black lakelets looked like spots of ink on a white tablecloth. - -Rauten had gone into a long lake, and Gaupa found no spoors up from the -water. He went round the lake several times, but no tracks could be -seen. - -He reflected. Could this lakelet, without even a name, be Rauten’s -tomb? Could the elk have been drowned out there? It seemed impossible. - -He circled the lakelet once more, and in the little brooklet which -fed the lake he saw some strange holes in the mud at the bottom. The -brook was shallow, and the sun showed him the bottom quite plainly. -Those holes down there had a distance between them about as long as the -stride of an elk. - -He followed the brook for about a quarter of an hour, and found the -place where Rauten had left the water. Gaupa had never seen an elk try -to hide his tracks so cunningly. - -About noon he went straight towards the sun, ignorant of the names of -the mountains around him. Then the earth yawned before him, and he -perceived a valley so large and deep that it must be Hallingdal. - -He heard also that the air was vibrant with some sound, a dull, heavy -roar with some sort of rhythm in it. He could not understand what it -was. The wind shifted, and into his ears poured the deep, full boom of -church bells. Once more the wind shifted, and he heard nothing but that -vibrating roar. - -Then he remembered that it was Sunday—for ordinary people, but not for -him. The elk spoors led straight towards the valley and the church -bells—one might think Rauten was going to church. But on a slope the -track turned abruptly, and there Gaupa smelt the homely, acrid smell of -smoke, the sign of people and houses. - -He walked on after the smoke, sniffing his way like a dog on an open -scent. A little later he stood before a low Hallingdal cottage with a -tall chimney. He touched the doorhandle; Bjönn stole in in front of -him, and in a moment was chasing a cat, as red as a fox. But cats made -Bjönn mad. He threw one paw over the animal, pinning her to the floor, -and then bit twice across her back. There was the sound of crunching as -when Bjönn ate bones, and then a cat died in Hallingdal. - -They gave him matches and food, and he walked uphill again. He released -Bjönn, who soon returned. Rauten was too far in front of them. - -Dusk met Gaupa in a bare valley without summer farms where he could -spend the night. His axe resounded in the silence as he cut down dry -pines. He slept in the shelter of a rock, Bjönn clasped tightly to his -breast. - -A few hundred yards from Gaupa’s night lair something dark showed up on -a ridge. Was it a rock? No, the rocks were not black then, they were -white with snow. - -That dark thing did not move. - -After a while it did move. Two eyes gleamed wet in the moonlight, a -tined antler crossed the harvest moon behind it. Rauten was lying there. - -He thought he heard some strange sounds in the evening, but there was -little wind and he could not make sure. - -He was waiting for daylight. - -The snow was glittering, the crystals of snow were like innumerable -stars which were for ever being lit and extinguished. The mountains -were softly moving clouds, cradling the tired body of Rauten, while a -few isolated mountain spruces, from which the sun had thawed the snow, -were like darkly dressed dwarfs in the hollows. - -It was nearly two days and two nights since Rauten left Owl Glen in -Lower Valley. - - -§ 24 - -When Gaupa hung up his coffee-kettle over the fire he felt shivery -after his cold bed. The kettle boiled, and he swallowed hastily four or -five cupfuls of scalding-hot coffee. Then he noticed a strange pattern -in the grounds at the bottom of the empty cup. The lines were funny, he -thought, they made quite a picture. - -He turned the cup round and round, and there was not much imagination -needed to make those brown lines mean an elk lying on his back. - -Then Gaupa smiled to Bjönn. - -“We’ll have him before sundown. He lies here.” - -A little later the fire under the rock wall was deserted, and while it -was dying slowly the resinous smoke floated like a dark mist over the -neighbouring bog. - -Gaupa had not walked far when Bjönn rose on his hind legs and caught -the open scent. He would not come down on all-fours for fear of losing -it, and went on hopping on two legs several steps, and Gaupa swore -prodigiously out of the joy in his heart. He loosed the leash, and let -Bjönn storm into the mountains towards the pale-yellow sky of the dawn, -from which a faint sheen fell on the snow. - -The snow was crisp now after the night’s frost, and it crunched a -little under each of Bjönn’s steps. A family of grouse flew up like a -shower from some osier bushes, a cock grouse called “gak-gak,” and soon -after the dog sang out farther east. Rauten had company once more. - -Three hours later Gaupa was steaming with sweat. He passed unknown -summer farms where the windows in the sun shone like fire. It was warm, -for summer was still in the air. Winter lay on the ground prematurely -born. The trees were dripping, the snow grew wet and heavy, crunching a -little under Gaupa’s shoes. A young hare sniffed the snow which he had -never seen till the day before, big brown eyes staring with wonder at -the bewitched world. - -The chase went on—and it was evening. - - -§ 25 - -It was night, the third night since Rauten left Owl Glen. - -He was lying in a brook in Ré Valley, on Bog Hill where once he fought -the three-year-old. On all-fours he was lying in the brook, the water -unceasingly licking his stiff limbs, and Rauten enjoyed the refreshing -coolness. Once he bent his head to drink, his flanks hollowing. - -Before him on the bank of the brook lay Bjönn. He did not say anything, -having barked enough throughout the day. It was quite dark, the moon -not yet being up and the snow having been thawed on that sun-exposed -slope so that no light was reflected by the snow either. Only the -silver bark of a birch gleamed faintly among the dense spruce woods. - -A good stone’s throw farther south on the slope Gaupa sat, his back -against a tree-trunk. His pack lay at his side and his rifle across his -knees. Inside it rested a cartridge containing the Swede’s Bullet. - -Gaupa felt exceedingly cold, for he was wet with perspiration when he -sat down, and now he felt as if he were wrapped up in icy-cold sheets. -He beat his arms across each other, carefully so as not to make a -noise, and sat on. - -In the dusk he had reached Black Mountain and heard Bjönn baying on Bog -Hill, but darkness came before he reached him, and he could not discern -the sights of “The Tempest” except against the sky. - -When he came to the spruce where he was sitting now he heard Bjönn’s -last bark, and understood from it that the elk was not running, for the -barking sounded so feeble. - -Rauten and Bjönn were presumably somewhere in that brook, and if he -knew Bjönn he would not leave the elk that night. But when the sun rose -over the eastern ridges and lit up Ré Valley, then Gaupa would steal -forth, as soon as he could make sure where Rauten was standing. The -brook in the hollow murmured unceasingly. - -Gaupa listened. No, he could not hear that inexplicable muttering far -away which belonged to the night and the unbroken silence. The brook -deadened it. He felt how the forest about him was asleep, standing, -eyes closed. All the same there _was_ something, that restlessness -which has no origin. He seemed to hear something breathing like a human -being somewhere. - -He remembered one incident after the other told of the remarkable -animal who was standing unseen somewhere near him. - -There was Anton Rud. Last autumn he was cutting resinous pine-stumps to -distil tar, far up Tolleivsæter way. - -One evening he kept on longer than usual, and it was dusk when he -walked slowly down to the hut again. - -He stopped to light his pipe, when he heard a cough below, a faint, dry -cough, first once and then twice running. He heard also the noise of -someone walking, and he sat down to wait, for it sounded as if someone -were coming uphill. - -But nobody came, nor did he hear that cough any more. He thought it -strange, and called out aloud asking whether there was any human -being.... No answer. - -In the morning he went up to the same place to search the soil a -little. He could not understand that cough—it sounded exactly like a -consumptive coughing and clearing his throat. There were no traces of -a human being, but he found elk spoors like Rauten’s, and he stopped -stump-cutting that selfsame day. - -Gaupa remembered that story and many others. - -In the meanwhile Rauten and Bjönn remained in the same spot in the -hollow, the dog looking steadily at the huge deer before him, his -nozzle rested on his forepaws, and he looked like a long, narrow mound -of grass or peat. Off and on something moved on the mound; Bjönn’s ears -rose and lay down again. - -A big bird, an owl, flew noiselessly over the forest, wings caressing -the air. - -After a while Gaupa nodded drowsily as he sat by the tree-trunk, but -he felt so cold that he was wide awake again in no time, and then he -heard somewhere a horse’s bell. He turned his head here and there, -and the horse’s bell was to be heard from every direction. But it was -impossible that there should be a horse’s bell at that time of the -year; nobody put bells on a horse in the summer. He happened to take -out his watch, and the horse bell suddenly sounded much louder and -nearer. Then he understood that what he had been listening to was the -tiny tink-tink of his own watch. It was ten o’clock. - -A little later something trod softly in the darkness—very softly. He -turned and the tread grew alive, became something tangible which was -Bjönn. The dog came close up to him and laid his head on his master’s -knee; and Gaupa embraced him, whispering fond words into his ear. Bjönn -licked his master’s face and he let him do so. Then he fed him from his -sack, gave him much food, whispering and prattling with the beast all -the time, telling him that Bjönn must be a clever dog and hold Rauten -till either the moon or daylight came, and then “The Tempest” should -sing. - -But Bjönn did not stay long with Gaupa; he wagged his tail a little, -and trotted a few steps away from him. Then he seemed to remember -something he had forgotten, went back, sniffed Gaupa’s beard and -pressed his cold, wet nose close to his cheek. Then he disappeared in -the darkness; there was a sound of rustling among the spruce branches, -and then the brook was once more the only living thing Gaupa could hear -or see. - -He thought of Bjönn’s strange behaviour, how he came back to nose his -beard. And he remembered the night before he left Lynx Hut, when he -was remelting the Swede’s Bullet, how strangely Bjönn stared at him, -whimpering as if in the full knowledge of something evil.... However, -such things were not worth noticing. - -Rauten had not moved the length of a mouse while Bjönn was away. - -Then the dog began to walk stiffly in front of the elk, barking once or -twice, and Rauten’s peace was broken. He got on to his forelegs, rose -and stood still. Bjönn became eager, for he knew that Gaupa was close -by, and he could not understand that it was difficult for his master to -shoot in complete darkness. - -Gaupa heard the sharp crack of a twig, then another. “There goes -Rauten,” he thought. - -A little later he heard the antlers striking a tree-trunk, and the -dog’s bark came nearer, eager and aggressive. “There is the elk -coming,” he thought. - -Over him the branches hung like a wide-meshed net, a faint light from -the sky penetrating it. But the under-bush was so black that he saw the -trees only like vague shadows and in there the wizard elk was coming. -Listen! how the antlers rustle among the spruce needles with a dry -swishing sound, as when you sweep the floor of the hut with a broom! - -Gaupa did not stir, but clasped his hands round his gun in trembling -excitement. He sat immovable like an animal in its night lair, his eyes -burning as if they would burn a hole in the darkness enveloping him. - -Both beasts were close by and below him. Once he thought he saw a large -shadow glide past down there, but he was not sure. He heard the dog -throw himself aside and Rauten’s heavy steps. But he could not, could -not see him. - -Slowly Bjönn withdrew a little, following the wizard elk. - -Gaupa crawled after them on all-fours, slowly, slowly. He was so close -after them that he surely could have thrown his gun at the elk, if -there had been light enough, and it seemed to him that he was crawling -at the bottom of a black lake with the tree-tops floating on the -surface of the water. - -Then Rauten stopped and the dog’s barking grew rhythmic. Gaupa dragged -himself ward on his stomach, and in a glade he caught sight of Bjönn, -a dark bundle which glided here and there over the earth. But the elk, -the elk? - -He did not dare to move farther, and remained where he was, “The -Tempest” ready. Over the western ridges the starry sky was sparkling. - -Little by little Bjönn calmed down, till finally he remained on the -same spot, and from the direction of his head Gaupa guessed whereabouts -Rauten must be. For a long time he had been looking for something -showing up like antlers against the sky between two tree-trunks, and -he was only waiting to see that something move.... It did move, quite -distinctly, and Gaupa lifted the barrel of his gun towards the sky, -then lowered it towards the antlers, then far enough down to hit the -body—and then the Swede’s bullet left the mouth of “The Tempest.” - -The splitting flame from the gun sent a broad beam of light across the -glade where Bjönn stood. And in front of the dog Gaupa saw as if in -a flash of lightning the head of Rauten above some bushes. The head -was lifted high, large eyes staring, and the half ear stood out very -clearly.... Then darkness came again. Not a sound, no heavy thud of an -elk falling, no eager dog’s bark. - -Gaupa was half blinded from the sudden change from glaring light to -absolute darkness. He listened for the well-known dry crackle of -fleeing elk’s hoofs, but it did not come. - -Then his ears caught the sound of something astir close in front of -him. It could not be Rauten dying, for he would surely have heard him -falling. - -He struck a match, and at that moment a cock grouse chattered furiously -somewhere up south—a coldly mocking guffaw like the laughter of a -lunatic. If the grouse chattered in the middle of the night it must -have been roused by the elk, therefore Rauten must be far away already. -But what, then, was that which moved before his feet? - -The match went out, there was a draught in the air. He scratched -another, there was a swish along the box, a tiny explosion, and a -little fire was born and burnt uncertainly within the hollow of his -hand. Two spruces stood within the circle of the light, staring with -wonder as if they had just awakened and wanted to know what kind of -tiny sun was dancing on the ground. - -Gaupa went forward to some yellow moss, that showed elk spoors. But -in the middle of the glade Bjönn lay on one side. His eyes blinked a -little at the light from the match, but there was in them something -strained which Gaupa did not recognise. He knelt down beside the dog, -stroking him and talking to him, but Bjönn took no notice, and his -flanks laboured so strangely and quickly. - -Gaupa lit another match and saw blood on Bjönn’s hair a little behind -the left shoulder. He felt with his hand, which became wet. The dog -started to open his mouth as if to yawn—and he gaped, and he gaped, and -never finished. - -“Bjönn!” Gaupa whispered—“my own dog!” - -But Bjönn only gaped. - -Gaupa understood what had happened. The Swede’s bullet had struck -the elk’s antler and was shattered, one bit of lead ricochetting and -hitting the dog. - -“Bjönn! Don’t you hear me, Bjönn?” he whispered once more half -beseechingly. - -[Illustration] - -Oh no, Bjönn could not hear anything any more now. He began to nod his -head in a strange way, something gurgled in his throat. A large tear -leapt out of the dog’s eye and rolled down over the grey muzzle. The -dog stretched himself. He was tired of the endless chase. He wanted to -rest. - -The last thing Bjönn from Lynx Hut did in his life was to stretch -himself. - - * * * * * - -A man was sitting with a dead dog on his knees. It happened on Bog Hill -in Ré Valley. The murmur of the river sounded steady and calm, like the -very breath of night. - -Gaupa thought of the Swede’s Bullet. It concealed strange powers; it -had travelled through a body before, and it knew its way. Why, oh why, -then, did it take away the only friend, the only child he possessed? It -would be small comfort walking down to Lower Valley in the morning. - -Gaupa waited for the dawn. Bjönn seemed so strangely heavy on his -knees. He felt how the warmth of life slowly left the soulless body of -the dog, remembered what the two had shared of better things and worse -throughout the years, and the tears fell fast down Gaupa’s unkempt -face. - -Daylight came. In his arms he carried Bjönn to a heap of rocks tenderly -as a mother carries her sleeping baby to bed. - -He displaced some pieces of rock, and when he laid Bjönn down there -he felt that he was burying some of his joy in life. He sat down, his -shoulders heaving. - -[Illustration] - -When did Gaupa weep last? He did not remember. It was long ago, long, -long ago. - -Day broke over Ré Valley. - - -§ 26 - -Time floated over the wilderness. - -In summer it is warm, in winter cold. Three days before Christmas the -sun ceases to descend lower in the sky, rises again, and after a long -while he starts work on a fresh spring down on earth. - -Through half the year the lakes lie with their eyes closed, for -half a year they mirror the sunset. The rivers stiffen when the -immigrating birds go south. While the bear dreams in his winter lair, -the trees stand bloodless, breaking in the frost. But when the living -ploughshares of the wild geese go northwards once more, then the trees -spread out all their branches, embracing life. - -Such is time, when beasts are born, eat, and die. Such was time when -Rauten went towards old age. - -His body followed the all-subduing law of nature. At Candlemass time -he lost his antlers, which invariably grew out again, every time with -more tines. When the leaves fell he roared his hoarse mating call at -dusk and at dawn. In the summer nights his huge, dark body would glide -through the forest out to Gipsy Lake where the snow-white waterlilies -were floating. - -On some clear, cruel, frosty winter night he would perhaps stand on -guard beside a soft-eyed cow and a calf that was his own flesh and -blood. Then Venus, queen of the starry heavens, would glow large and -bright above Ré Mountains, lending a pale shimmer to the white snow. -The Aurora Borealis would shine bright and strange, then the breath -from the elks’ nostrils would smoke in the night. - -When once in a while Rauten lay on Black Mountain looking out across -the forest, all the happenings of which his life was so rich would stir -within him. Probably he did not remember, not live his reminiscences -once more in his mind. We do not know about that. But each remarkable -incident had set its mark in him in the shadowy life of his soul. -They had sharpened his instincts, enriched his experience. There were -incidents at all times of the year, in all changing lights of day and -night, in sunny heat and in frosty weather—some concerning animals, -some human beings. - -But he grew solitary and still more solitary as age came on. He sought -places where man but rarely made spots on the earth with his shoes of -animals’ hide, where the steel tooth of the axe but rarely gnawed a -tree, where old times were still dreaming. - -For the Ré Valley woods began to be open. Foresters’ huts grew out of -the earth, creating unrest. Old trees died, changed their existence, -and left Ré Valley. Their stumps stayed, time and weather eating them -as ravens eat carrion. - -Many a dog had chased Rauten, but their muzzles grew grey and their -eyes blue, and one day the barrel of a gun blew out their lives. And -still Rauten walked across Black Mountains. - - * * * * * - -But what of Gaupa? - -He also aged; he aged rapidly when Bjönn died. For after that time he -lost his love of the woods somehow, and then he seemed to shrink within -himself. - -Soon he was no longer a wild cat, he became a tame, domestic cat. No -more his fire shone at the capercailzie’s play in the blue spring -evenings when the song thrush was silent in the tree-tops and flew away -for the night. A sleepy petroleum lamp shone dully in Lynx Hut, where -the air was not light and pure as drifted snow, but stank of leather -and old footwear. - -He felt as if something had died within him. His mind was like an -everlasting rainy day, monotonous, without a gleam of sun. No more -tumults, only silence and death, his mind was luke-warm like marsh -water. - -Gaupa was not well either. He needed but to drink three or four cups -of coffee one after the other to make his heart unmanageable. It would -not keep time, but beat eagerly and quickly, and then it lagged, nearly -stopped as if lame.... Well, well, that heart had seen hard days, as -well he knew. - -Gaupa’s calves grew full of small bulbs under his skin from varicose -veins. And then rheumatism came. Working in his shop he could feel the -rheumatism, like fine red-hot wires being stitched into his body. It -was worst in his knees, for there something was gnawing, gnawing like -sharp teeth, everlastingly hungry. Well, well, you know those calves -and those knees had been through some hard work in his life. - -Once somebody asked him to go to a doctor, but then Gaupa guffawed in -mocking merriment. - -Alas, there was small comfort in Lynx Hut now. No Bjönn came to place -his head on his knees while he was stitching shoes, no Bjönn met him -with tail waving in the open door when he had been out and came home, -no Bjönn shared his bed under the sheepskin covering in the night. When -he woke up at night he caught himself listening for the dog’s breath, -for Bjönn used to breathe so heavily, so humanly. Gaupa remembered so -well. - -When he was seventy years old he was converted. After that time the -poor old soul would often sit in one of the foremost desks in the -schoolhouse, piously listening to what Hans Uppermeadow, the “high -priest,” had to announce. He would sit there in his simple blue-striped -celluloid collar without a tie. That was the only Sunday best he -possessed, and no one knew when last it was washed. - -Somehow revivalism did not quite submerge him, for he could not help -thinking of other things while the preacher up there threatened his -audience with hell and sulphur. It might, for instance, occur to him -that the moustache of that fellow was the very spit of the other’s -whiskers, and in a bound Gaupa’s thoughts were far from the schoolroom -and its close atmosphere. No, he could not get the real hang of the -revivalist business, and before he entered upon his seventy-second year -he gave it up and became a worldling once more. - -Only he ceased to swear, and when religious people were with him he -might be heard to talk of how quietly time passed down here. Sometimes -he would even sigh audibly. - -Poor old Gaupa! He was in earnest right enough. He was no Pharisee. Yet -his conscience was never quite easy; he was not regularly “saved,” and -when his heart started beating out of time he would feel as timid as a -hare! - -One day he was at Rust helping with some wood-cutting. He went to feed -the horses in the evening, and remained in the stable so long that -Halstein began to wonder and went in. - -There lay Gaupa senseless after a blow from the young black mare. There -was a hole in his skull, and Halstein saw the brain matter pulsating. - -It was a strange thing, but Gaupa recovered. He was in bed at Rust for -a long time, but as soon as he could walk to his own hut he demanded -it, and after six months he was very much as before. - -One day about Easter time the sheriff, who lived some two miles to the -south, saw Gaupa hatless coming across his yard with a long knife in -his hand. He wondered a little, and in a moment the maid came rushing -into his office and begged him to go out into the kitchen, for Gaupa -must have lost his wits. - -The sheriff went. There was Gaupa. His hair had withered at the top of -his head so that he was quite bald. He wore a blue blouse, and in his -right hand he held his knife, shining, freshly sharpened. Yet Gaupa was -an exceptionally good-tempered man. - -“Good morning, sheriff. I’ve come to skin him. Where do you keep him?” - -The sheriff did not understand, but noticed that the corners of Gaupa’s -mouth worked harder than ever. “St. Vitus’s dance,” he thought. - -“Skin him, d’you say?” - -“Yes, of course; don’t you remember I shot the wizard elk in your woods -yesterday? I carted him home, large and whole.” - -He pointed the knife straight at the sheriff, till the latter felt the -blade like a cold pang through his body. - -“This knife,” Gaupa went on, “has tasted Rauten once before, and still -it is sharp enough to manage the skinning of the elk. Where do you keep -him? Eh?” - -The sheriff understood that Gaupa’s mind was queer, and he made believe -that everything was as Gaupa said. - -“Oh yes,” he replied; “I’ll find him for you soon enough, but you will -have a drink first, won’t you?” - -Certainly, Gaupa would like a drink; he had one drink, and then -another. By that time he forgot his errand and went quietly home to -Lynx Hut. - -Two days later he went to Lyhus and behaved in exactly the same manner. -There was no gainsaying the fact that the day before he had shot Rauten -and drove him, in all his bulk, to the farm, so that everyone might see -the wizard elk. And now he had come to skin him. - -From that time Gaupa was out of his mind. People guessed it was a -result from that blow from the horse’s hoof, which seemed probable -enough. - -Every once in a while he would go to a farm to skin an elk he had shot -in their forest, and if only they agreed and said he ought to have the -drink due before such a work was undertaken, or they offered him food, -he could generally be talked away from his purpose, so that he forgot -all about skinning. - -The authorities attempted to lodge him at some farm, but Gaupa simply -walked home to Lynx Hut, where he would sit busy with his awl and his -waxed thread, working quite decently. - -But the urchins found great fun in going up to him and showing him a -naked knife, for as soon as he saw it he would start telling the story -of the elk calf on Black Mountain slopes, always in the same manner, -nearly in the same words. He never told anything else than that he cut -half an ear from the calf, never anything more detailed about Rauten -after the elk had grown up. If they asked him they could see how he -strove and strove to remember, but he was never sure. It was always -the same story again and again, how he held the calf between his knees, -and when he finished they would hear him mumbling something no one -understood except one single word: “Beast, beast.” - -Later on he imagined he had killed an animal he called Golden Bear. -Then he went down the valley to the rich forest owners, to their grand -farms with red storehouses and white dwellings with glass balls on the -top of their flag-poles, shining like silver in the sunlight. And then -Gaupa never stopped till he got speech with the great men themselves, -for he could buy their woods and their farms and everything they -possessed. They might have their payment in cash and the price was of -no consideration, for he had killed the Golden Bear. - -Thus fared Gaupa, the elk-killer, in the evening of his life. - - -§ 27 - -One spring Lynx Hut remained locked, at first for days, then for weeks, -then for ever. Lynx Hut is still locked. - -They looked for Gaupa that spring, every one in the Valley who could -crawl in forest or mountain. The sheriff donned his uniform cap, used -the law and ordered people out. A long chain of men zig-zagged across -the Lower Valley slopes, east of the river and west of the river. But -no Gaupa was found. - -What little he possessed was put to auction. His cobbling tools were -scattered over the valley as if by a gust of wind. Martin Lyhus bought -“The Tempest.” - -I visited Lynx Hut some years ago. It was empty, with naked walls. A -hole gaped in the brickwork of the chimney where the stove flue had -once gone in, and the window sill was strewn with dead flies. I found -a dried-up squirrel on the hearth. The little animal had, I suppose, -climbed down the chimney and been unable to climb up, finally lying -down mouth open for the food which should have kept it alive. - -But also I found something else. - -In a corner lay a dog’s collar of coarse leather. It had a shiny buckle -and the inside of the leather was worn smooth. In the collar was sewn -with white cobbler’s thread the name “Bjönn.” - -The man who unlocked Lynx Hut to me was so white of hair that he seemed -to carry fresh snow on his head. He wore a waistcoat with silver -buttons, and his name was Halstein Rust. It was he who in the autumn -after Gaupa’s disappearance went to the relief officer in Lower Valley -and told him what he had found above Gipsy Lake out in Ré Valley. It -was also Halstein Rust who told me of Gaupa and Bjönn and the wizard -elk, Rauten. - -[Illustration] - -To-day a cross stands alternately in sun and shade outside the -tar-soaked wall of Lower Valley Church. Under that cross rests the -body of Halstein Rust. But I clearly remember the evening when the -white-haired man sat before me, crooked, trembling fingers pointing -southwards towards Ré Valley, and telling me how Gaupa’s life ended. - - -§ 28 - -That spring there were masses of snow in the mountains. First mild -weather came in March and afterwards the frost lasted till far into -May, then the weather changed suddenly, the air vibrating with sunny -heat from morning till night. - -The tributary rivers became roaring mad in a few days, Lower River went -greenish yellow like ale, lifting timber jams of hundreds of logs, -sweeping them along, sucking them on in their mad rush, until the logs -would float peacefully into the big lake two leagues to the south. - -The birch buds opened in a night. In the morning the trees were thickly -covered with what looked like green butterflies. A strong perfume -filled the steaming air. - -It was late at night, the distant hills were blue. The northern sky was -smouldering, a soft tone of sweet sadness rose from the fiery heavens, -lulling the senses, like the melody of soft, slowly rolling waves. The -people of Lower Valley were asleep. - -A belated snipe flew chirping over Lynx Hut. - -Gaupa came out, locked his door, and put the key in his pocket. He -carried a knapsack, and took out a pair of skis. He remained there as -if making sure in his thought that nothing was forgotten. But his ideas -were confused, lacking strength to arrange themselves in any definite -order, and Gaupa went towards the River with skis on his shoulder and a -sack on his back, but his rifle hung peacefully on the wall inside Lynx -Hut. - -In the darkness of that May night a man walked on the crusted snow on -the slopes towards Ré Valley. The skis made a dry grating sound on the -snow crust, the man breathed quickly and heavily, and rested sadly -often. He grew so very thirsty, and every once in a while he lay down -at some brooklet and drank the water from the melting snow. - -After midnight the snow crust became stone hard. The man went south -along the flat marshes near Ré River, and for such an old man he went -remarkably quickly. Gaupa had not in vain been the man who used to show -everybody else his back both walking and running. - -About two o’clock the door of Gipsy Lake Hut groaned, and on the hard -wooden seat where Gaupa and Bjönn used to rest side by side after many -a sweat dripping day Gaupa lay alone, after many years. - -Strangely enough, that night his brain cleared. He felt as if he -had awakened from sleep, and without making a fire he lay, looking -backwards in time. - -He had lived his life as he himself wanted it, poor in possessions, -but rich in happenings. Throughout all the years he could remember -there blew a cold breeze from windworn trees and naked mountains. His -memories stood out like bright flowers, smelling sweetly of heather and -moss. Best of all he remembered the three days’ chase after Rauten, -Bjönn’s last chase. Even that time the rumour was true. Bad luck had -followed on Rauten’s heels. - -Gaupa heard a wood-cock swishing by Gipsy Lake. Then all was silence -again. - -A little later an owl started hooting in the trees outside the hut, -and to Gaupa the hooting seemed to come out from the walls, from the -ceiling, from the floor.... The owl is a sinister bird and predicts -death, and Gaupa felt quite creepy listening to the sound of the -voice. He opened the door and peeped up in the half light between the -trees. The bird was silent then, but he could not see it. Yet as soon -as he lay down the bird’s voice was heard again, sad, wailing, almost -like broken notes of a dirge. The tune never rose, never sank, always -keeping the same level. - -He went out many times to frighten it away, and although that bird sat -just above the roof, he was quite unable to see it; he could almost -believe it was a spirit sitting aloft, trying to tell him something. - -Day sent a grey square of light through the open door on to the floor -of Gipsy Lake Hut. Darkness crept into the corners and hid there. - -Then suddenly and unexpectedly the old man jerked his head, steadied -his hands against the bench, and half rose. His eyes lost the film of -deadness they had had lately and had become keen. - -Through the open door he heard the crush, crush, crush of the snow -crust shattering under steps heavy enough to break it. - -Gaupa knew the snow crust to be hard enough to carry a man, even a -heavy one. He rose on his feet and stood in the door, crouching a -little, both hands holding on to the lintel above his head. - -Crush, crush, crush! he heard from a little mound covered with young -trees, just beyond the clearing in front of the hut. Then the sound -stopped as if cut off, and the silence afterwards was filled with the -boiling rumble from the heath cocks in the marsh by the lake. The owl -was silent. - -What came over him? Was he afraid? He almost looked like it. His eyes -grew keen, staring. His mouth opened, showing his gums with all his -teeth still, brown from chewing tobacco. - -An elk’s head rose from the bushes on the mound, and Gaupa gave a -startled sob. - -“Rauten!” he whispered, and his excited face showed everything but -fear. It was like the yell from an old, half-blind deer-hound who -unexpectedly finds big game, a yell of exultation, a dying fire flaming -up. - -The elk’s head turned abruptly, a long back floated over the bushes, -and once more the snow crust crashed where Rauten ran. - -Gaupa turned back to the hut. “The Tempest,” “The Tempest,” his -thoughts were wailing. But the rifle was at home in Lynx Hut, rusty -with years of disuse. - -He was running about on the floor of the hut, his eyes seeking a -weapon, anything that could be used for taking life—murmuring all the -time: “Sure it is the wizard elk, sure it is the wizard elk!” - -Then his hand happened to touch his dagger, hanging at his right-hand -side; the touch reminded him of something, and he stopped. He wrenched -out the knife, his feet stole quickly across the floor and through the -doorway. Shortly afterwards the old man was running on the hard snow, -stooping, bareheaded, in his blouse, and with long, homespun trousers -flapping round his legs. - -Before him were the elk spoors, deep holes straight through the rough -snow crust, the bottom of them showing the wide-apart hoofs of Rauten, -and the grains of snow in the holes were like pearls. - -Gaupa saw how the bits of broken snow crust had flown under the elk’s -hoofs, and once more he was the old Gaupa. Body and soul were taken -back across the years. He was no longer a rheumatic old cripple running -bareheaded towards the rise of the sun, knife in hand. No, he was a man -with playing muscles and foaming blood, a shaggy savage who hunted an -animal to eat it and to clothe himself in its skin. - -The snow crust was so hard that he ran as if on a floor, the sound of -his steps was only a slight scratching as from a lynx’s claws in bark. -He heard the wizard elk just in front, the beast sinking into the snow -till under its belly, and inside him was the song that here was Rauten, -Rauten! while audibly he mumbled, “I’ve got him now, I’ve got him now.” - -Above the spring-black woods of Ré Valley, the mountains foamed like -white waterfalls. In the east the rosy dawn glowed, sending a breath of -whitish yellow before her on the sky which in farthest west was still -deep-sea blue. - -There was Black Mountain with its white head, and the forest down its -breast like a shaggy beard. Just such a May morning it was when Black -Mountain first saw the little elk calf that was to become Rauten. - -Now Black Mountain saw something different. On the marsh east of Gipsy -Lake an elk bull was plunging heavily in the crusted snow. He tried to -leap, but could not. He sank through as if falling at each step and he -looked strangely short-legged. - -But on the back of that elk sat a man.... - -Now both Rauten and Gaupa, “The Lynx,” were animals, one born in and of -the forest, the other a human being restored to the animal state by the -forest. He sat astride of the elk, feeling its lean, sharp back between -his legs. His nostrils were full of the scent of game, and he inhaled -it and grew drunk from it, like a beast of prey. His hands held on to -the mane and one of them held the knife. He lay forwards along Rauten’s -neck as if wanting to bite the elk’s throat. Under his nose his beard -bristled like feline whiskers. - -The marsh was empty again, the elk spoor marking it like a deep scar, -and the trees about it seemed to wonder at what they had just seen. - -But in the copses to the south the crash of the elk’s hoofs could be -heard, and there was Rauten forcing his way, half mad with terror. -Every step was an effort, the man on his back and the difficult snow -both increased his fear. He wanted to throw the man off. He strained -his body till muscles and sinews groaned inside him, but the snow crust -was ever faithless; as soon as his hoofs were on the ground, the weight -of his body following, the snow crust broke like brittle ice. No matter -however much he willed, willed to go forwards, faster, faster—he could -not, it was useless. - -[Illustration] - -The bushes waved around him, hitting Gaupa’s face till it smarted and -he closed his eyes for fear of being blinded. Just before him he saw -the ear that was only half an ear. He saw fur had grown where the knife -once cut. He noticed also that the antlers were growing out again after -the winter’s moulting. They were covered with fur. - -Rauten’s breathing was laboured, long and hissing like bellows in a -smithy. - -Then Gaupa let go one hand from the elk’s mane, the hand rose, slowly -at first, then darting like a flame, and a newly ground knife’s edge -drew a shiny line across the dark forest. The knife stopped above -Gaupa’s head, then sank like lightning. It sank into the elk’s back, -deep up to the haft. - -Rauten opened his mouth a little, also his eyes, but did not even -groan, only took a few leaps out of the undergrowth to a more open -place where the sun had been more powerful so that there was less snow. -Two weather-grey stumps ran out of it like long tusks. - -“Akk,” said a capercailzie hen, wide awake and warning—“Akk, akk!” A -capercailzie cock had finished his play, a neck stretched out from the -brown-flecked pine branches, and his wings beat the air noisily when he -rose. - -Rauten staggered forwards, Gaupa on his back. Gaupa had a piece of -chewing tobacco in his mouth. It was caught between his clenched teeth -and a brown juice ran out of the corners of his mouth down into his -beard. He caught the knife out of the elk’s back and swung it aloft -once more. But it drew no shiny line this time, it was wet. Once more -it sank into Rauten’s body while Gaupa spat out the words: - -“Take that for Bjönn.” - -The same knife met Rauten with the first rays of day on the morning he -was born on Black Mountain slopes. The blade was worn and narrow now, -but fate decreed that it should sit in Rauten’s body at his death-leap -east of Gipsy Lake. Perhaps they knew, the dull-red sunbeams which -that morning, so many years ago, stroked their warm hands over the -little calf bidding him welcome to life and to the forest. - -But now Rauten had lived his life. Trees and grass, air and water had -given him of their own, which they now claimed back. Rauten was old; -over his melancholy head the sunset was dead. He was entering on the -long night which never is awakened by a dawn in the east. - -He had created a number of elks, most of them gone before him into the -land of shadows. Now his turn had come to follow them. The Ré Valley -woods had no more use for him. His legs were stiff and his steps short. -No longer was he a roaring storm at mating time. His muscles sang no -more wild songs from bottomless depths of forces; his life was on the -ebb, and no flood would rise in him again. - - -§ 29 - -That morning a marten sat crouching in a spruce tree near Gipsy Lake. -The marten might tell what happened. - -That morning a broad-winged eagle soared round and round above Ré -Valley. The eagle also might tell what happened. - -Rauten ran out on a southwards slope where the snow was partly gone. He -hardly saw anything; Gaupa’s knife was diving voluptuously into him. -But terror paralysed his nerves so that he hardly felt any pain. - -When the elk and the man ran the small bushes nodded after them. But -the old trees were indifferent to what happened. Everything was as it -should be. The old trees had seen the bear pawing the elk’s skull, had -seen the adder swallowing live mice. Life takes life. Thus it was when -night first dewed the grass, as long as stars have twinkled in the -heavens. - -While Rauten leapt down that slope the wind slipped in under Gaupa’s -blue-striped blouse, making it bulge out at the back. He rode on -intoxicated, far away from everything and everybody. He gave vent to a -long yell, old man that he was, and the yell sank into the spring-time -roar from Ré River and was swallowed up by it. - -Almost blind, the wizard elk rushed down a precipice, about three or -four times the height of a man, sliding with legs stretched out and -back straight. Gaupa pressed his knees against the elk’s flanks with -all his might, but could not keep his seat. He slid forwards along the -neck, found the antlers and hung on. The elk’s hoofs tore away patches -of moss, disturbing a small stone which became a living thing and -jumped down; a jay perched on a tree on that rock started a thin piping -as if bewailing the scene it saw. High up under a small cloud red with -sunlight the eagle soared easily in the air. Then he screamed, long and -hungrily. - -Rauten found firm earth below the rocky wall; he nearly fell forwards -with the shock, but managed to keep his balance. Gaupa did not let -go of the antlers, but his legs slipped off from the elk’s body and -turned a somersault, his soles high up towards the sky, as if he wished -to kick the tree-tops in play. Then he lost his hold on the antlers, -turned over the elk’s muzzle and lay on the snow, his knife still in -his hand. - -The wizard elk lifted one foreleg. Gaupa saw it, a helpless look in -his eyes. An icy-cold blast ran through him, before he rose to his -knees. The light-grey elk’s leg was lifted still higher, stopped in -the air for a tiny moment, and then fell rapidly. It hit Gaupa between -his shoulder-blades. Daylight was extinguished for him as suddenly as -when a candle is blown out. With incredible speed he rushed into empty -space, then began to sink—down, down. - -Gaupa lay on his face, his left arm bent under him, but the right hand -which held the knife was stretched out to one side. Then his fingers -loosened slowly from the curly maple shaft, straightened out, and the -knife lay loose on the snow crust. - -Rauten lifted his leg for another blow, but half-way up it became so -heavy that he could lift it no further, could not even hold it up. It -was as if Rauten thought better of it, as if he believed that the man -had had enough. He remained standing, his eyes, soft as dusk, staring -sadly at Gaupa. Then he grew sleepy and tired, strangely tired. His -great head nodded, nodded lower still, rose and nodded again. Then it -stiffened. There lay Rauten, the wizard elk. - -The morning sun reached the tree-tops and crept slowly down the trunks. -Then reaching the earth it stole forwards as if nosing the man and the -elk curiously. - - * * * * * - -The day was not different from many other days. - -It was a day in May, when spring dwells below in the great valleys, -early flowers bloom, and clouds sail across the blue sky. - -On the Ré Valley slopes dusk turned to evening. - -For a little space there was silence. - -The jay said no more. A marten sat well hidden in a spruce tree close -by, his eyes shining like raindrops among the needles. Dawn lit -copper-red fires on all the mountain peaks. - -Then the snow crust crashed noisily below that rocky wall on Gipsy -Lake slope. Rauten fell on his side. He did not move, but inside him -something bubbled with the sound of hidden brooklets under the peat in -a bog. - -Suddenly the great body curled up and straightened out again just as -suddenly. - -Gaupa and Rauten slept side by side, Rauten’s head touching Gaupa’s -chest as if the animal wished to rest with him. - -In the snow beside them red flowers seemed to bloom. - -Summer must have come to Ré Valley very early that year. - -[Illustration] - - - _Printed in Great Britain by Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ld., - London and Aylesbury._ - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Trail of the Elk, by Mikkjel Fonhus - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAIL OF THE ELK *** - -***** This file should be named 51771-0.txt or 51771-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/7/7/51771/ - -Produced by Giovanni Fini, Donald Cummings, Bryan Ness and -the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive/American -Libraries.) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Trail of the Elk - -Author: Mikkjel Fonhus - -Illustrator: Harry Rountree - -Release Date: April 15, 2016 [EBook #51771] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAIL OF THE ELK *** - - - - -Produced by Giovanni Fini, Donald Cummings, Bryan Ness and -the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive/American -Libraries.) - - - - - - -</pre> - -<div class="limit"> - -<div class="transnote p4"> -<p class="pc large">TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:</p> -<p class="ptn">—Obvious print and punctuation errors were corrected.</p> -<p class="ptn">—The transcriber of this project created the book cover -image using the front cover of the original book. The image -is placed in the public domain.</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/cover.jpg" width="350" height="512" alt="" /> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-005.jpg" width="400" height="235" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span></p> -<p> </p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p> - -<p class="pc4 xlarge">The Trail of the Elk</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-008.jpg" width="400" height="463" - alt="" - title="" /> - <div class="caption"><p class="pc">THE RÉ VALLEY SWEDE</p> -</div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p> - -<h1 class="p4">The Trail of the Elk<br /></h1> -<p class="pc large"><i>from the Norwegian of</i> H. Fonhus<br /> -<i>illustrated by</i> Harry<br /> -Rountree</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-009.jpg" width="200" height="188" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<p class="pc4 large">Jonathan Cape<br /> -Eleven Gower Street, London</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p> - -<p class="pc4 mid"><i>First published 1922</i></p> -<p class="pc1 lmid"><i>All Rights Reserved</i></p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> - -<p class="pr4 b4 large">The Trail of the Elk</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-011.jpg" width="400" height="86" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a><br /><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span></p> - -<p class="pc4 elarge"><b>The Trail of the Elk</b></p> - -<p class="pch">§ 1</p> - -<p class="drop-cap04">THIS is the story of a wizard elk—Rauten, -as people called him. He was -a human being in animal guise.</p> - -<p>The story begins in Ré Valley, which lies -like a yawning gap between mountains, long -and flat with borders of forests so dark that -they look as though part of the blackness of -night lingered in them. A river moves -sluggishly along the bottom of the valley, -making its way slowly and carefully between -stretches of light-red sand. It runs northwards, -a rare thing in Norway.</p> - -<p>There are bogs along the banks of the river, -bearing tall, stiff sedge, and when the weather -is calm they appear to be bristling. But in -sunshine and wind they sway to and fro like -undulating carpets of silk. Sometimes a long -neck appears, and a crane moves with his -measured stride, in which there is peace and -contentment. For the crane does not trouble<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> -himself about the past or the future. The -present with its long round of days suffices for -him.</p> - -<p>An ancient mountain farm lies there with -its fence all tumbled down. The thin pasture -is covered here and there with copses. The -houses rot and are never rebuilt. At one time -bears were so troublesome round about Tolleiv -Mountain Farm that it was impossible to -remain there, and even to-day it often happens, -especially in the autumn, that a bear is seen -feeding on berries far up the mountain side.</p> - -<p>But in the spring, life seethes in all the -animals of the valley. The capercailzie -stretches his neck, shuts his eyes, and hisses -passionately towards the sunrise. Each night -is a time of fierce unrest. Wings flap, claws -tear and rend, and slavering rows of teeth -snarl angrily at each other in the purple moonlight. -Above the forests the Ré Mountains -rise like white swans.</p> - -<p class="pch">§ 2</p> - -<p>It was in the summer-time a good many -years ago. On the slopes between Svart -Mountain at the upper end of Ré Valley -there might have been seen an elk with her -calf. The strange feature of the calf was that -it had lost half one of its ears. I will tell you -later on how this happened. The calf was -born amongst the patches of hard snow below -the region where the snow melts in spring, -and at the time of which we write he was still -quite small. But as by degrees the weeks -passed by he developed gristle, he gained in -bulk, marrow formed in his bones, and he -grew heavy. That calf was bound to grow -into a giant elk if only he were allowed time -enough.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-015.jpg" width="400" height="505" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p> -<p> </p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span></p> - -<p>Even the elk oxen with their seven-tined -antlers, who scrub the young trees in Ré -Valley, were once young calves like this.</p> - -<p>He is feeding from his mother; the warm -milk, trickling slowly from her body into his, -gives him his first sensation of pleasure. Consciousness -grows clear just as the clouds roll -away and leave the blue sky above him. He -gains his first notions of time, which is made -up of light and darkness. He learns that still -water is silent, and that running water makes a -sound, and may lick his legs as with wet and -cool tongues—and that when the wind rises<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> -the trees wail like young fox cubs. He also -learns how to distinguish the shrill call of the -hawk and falcon that hover beneath the sky -like shivering leaves. At night countless -little eyes gleam from the vault above him; -they are stars. But stars may gleam even -from dark copses and gullies, from marten and -from fox, from all the animals that rise when -the sun sets.</p> - -<p>The nights of midsummer draw their soft -veil over the valley, and the glaciers, forgotten -and abandoned in the mountains, light their -shining silvery lamps. Deep down in the -Gipsy Pond a golden cloud has gone to rest -like a pyre in the night, a sacrificial fire to the -god of peace and loneliness. And above its -flames the leaves of the waterlilies sway on the -face of the water like great green hearts. -Some days bring thunder and lightning, as if -the heavens would be rent asunder, and after -the storm the sun gleams on showers of rain -trailing over the mountains like dew-wet -shimmering cobwebs.</p> - -<p>But on autumn nights the earth seems to be -wrapped up in a golden fleece and the moon -glares from the sky like a yellow eye.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span></p> - -<p>About this time the elks of Ré Valley grow -strangely restless. Old bulls stand snorting -against the wind, and they may be observed -to veer round for nothing more than the fresh -tracks of a man. What ails them? They do -not know. But here and there spoors of dog -and man form, as it were, zones of terror across -the wilderness.</p> - -<p>There they go, the man and his dog, across -the bogs along the Ré River, where tufts of -dying dwarf birch lie blood-red like open -wounds. The man and his dog walk for an -hour. They go on for another hour.</p> - -<p>The man is short and compactly built, and -people never call him anything but Gaupa -(The Lynx). His beard is long, dark, and -bristling like lichen. His eyes have almost -the same colour as his beard, and they are so -piercing and cold that a glance from them -seems to give physical pain, and so small that -they appear to be on the point of disappearing. -Around the left corner of his mouth the skin is -everlastingly twitching; it started years before -when he was a lad, but it still goes on whether -he is awake or asleep.</p> - -<p>Gaupa wears grey homespun, with real silver<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> -buttons on his waistcoat. The buttons gleam -in the sun, becoming in their turn tiny shining -suns. Over his shoulder hangs his rifle, which -he has named the “Tempest” and the dog he -leads is large, dark and shaggy, and his name -is “Bjönn” (The Bear).</p> - -<p>Gaupa does not walk like other people, he -is always half on the run. When his path is -barred by a fallen tree or such like he does -not stride across it, he jumps. He seems to -be in incredible haste, and yet few people have -more time to spare.</p> - -<p>Wherever he goes he reads the signs before -him. A bog to him is a written page, a short -story written by the animals themselves with -their hoofs or claws. There is the spoor of an -elk, but somewhat old, for dry weather has -fallen in and the grass has straightened itself. -Bjönn puts his nose to it, but remains indifferent.</p> - -<p>And the man and his dog walk on and on.</p> - -<p>Late in the day a rumble is heard from the -Ré Mountains, long and heavy. The lesser -mountains catch the sound and send it on. It -floats along the slopes from one side to the other -till it dies away behind a shady hill far to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> -south. One might imagine it was Silence -itself moving only to listen for more. And -throughout the valley startled elks raise their -heads. That is how things were when the -shot cracked.</p> - -<p>The warm evening sun glows on a pine-clad -hillock on the western slope. Moss grown -rocks take a deeper tint. Two elks come -running out of the forest, a cow and a calf. -A shaggy deer-hound follows, his dripping -tongue lolling. The cow starts walking again, -but stops as if suddenly remembering that -there is no longer any hurry. She sways a -little and nearly falls, but regains her balance. -Her flanks work furiously and with each -breath golden-red clouds emerge from her -nostrils, falling like a red rain on the little calf -frisking before her. He seems to be ruddy all -over his back from his mother’s breath.</p> - -<p>Standing thus the cow begins to nod her -head. Her eyes are moist, shiny, living, like -mirrors catching the picture of the little calf -before her—oh, so clearly, as if they would -fain take the memory of him away with them -far away into the land of shadows.</p> - -<p>In a little while she falls on one side, felling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> -a young pine with her weight, and now the -animal has no more soul than a tree-stump, -a monstrous heap of flesh and bones devoid of -life.</p> - -<p>Bjönn follows the calf, baying deeply. After -a while he is heard once more, more shrill and -eager. Then once again the evening sun -throws a peaceful glow over the pine-clad hill. -The huge grey heap on the moss does not move.</p> - -<p>Very soon Gaupa is there; he leans his rifle -against a tree and draws his knife, and whistles -softly, coaxingly, for Bjönn.</p> - -<p class="pch">§ 3</p> - -<p>It is night, and cloudy weather; no stars -twinkle coldly over the Ré Mountains. Outside -a tiny wooden hut on the eastern banks -of Gipsy Lake Gaupa stands, his hands covered -with blood. The tree-tops crowd together -against a background of cloudy sky, and somewhere -in the western mountain a brook -murmurs.</p> - -<p>Gaupa is bareheaded and his hair is raven -black. With his hand on the door handle -he stops suddenly in the act of entering. Was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> -there a sound in the silent darkness? He -thought he heard something, but could not -decide from which direction it came. Yes—there -it is, quite clear now. From somewhere -up in Black Mountain a strange animal cry -reaches his ears. It is not a bear or fox—it is -most of all like a despairing moan of a human -being. Icy waves seem to run down his -spine. He remains immovable, listening for -more cries from the Black Mountain. But -nothing more is heard and the man enters his -hut, locking the door.</p> - -<p>Soon after he is outside again, listening. -But there is nothing to be heard, and he re-enters -the hut.</p> - -<p>The Gipsy Lake Hut is cosy and warm. -The roaring stove devours the logs, and from -the draught-hole in the iron stove door a light -steals out to flit in ever-changing play over -the timber walls. Gaupa and Bjönn lie on -the bed side by side, the dog barking in his -sleep once in a while.</p> - -<p>For a long time nothing is heard but the -deep contented muttering from the stove.</p> - -<p>Then Gaupa rises with a start and sits -immovable.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p> - -<p>“There it is again,” he thinks. But soon -he sees clearly that no animal cry could possibly -have reached him from the Black Mountain -through those walls of timber.</p> - -<p>He understands what animal it was that -uttered the cry. It was the elk calf whose -mother he had killed. Now that poor mite -was searching the wood calling upon his -mother. Gaupa had heard such calves in -distress call often enough, but the cry from the -Black Mountain that night made him shiver. -No ordinary elk calf could wail like that.</p> - -<p>Gaupa lay down again. Sleep had left him, -and strange memories visited him instead.</p> - -<p>Some ten to twelve years before a half-demented -old Swede roamed about in Ré -Valley. People called him the Ré Valley -Swede. For two whole summers he wandered -about with a divining rod and a pickaxe, -looking for the Ré Valley treasure. According -to an ancient old legend, seven pack-horses -loaded with church plate passed up the Valley -at the time of the Black Death. Four men -led them. When they reached the bogs near -the Tolleiv Mountain Farm, the plague overtook -the men. They had barely the strength<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> -to bury the silver, before they lay down to -die with the name of Our Lady on their lips.</p> - -<p>This treasure lived like a ghost in the -imagination of the people. Somewhere in the -Ré Valley lay the plate, that much was certain. -When the half-witted old Swede heard of it -he commenced haunting the Ré Valley from -end to end. He used his pickaxe diligently -enough. Every wound in the bogs bore traces -of his exertions.</p> - -<p>Thus he went on one whole Summer. During -the Winter he went timber-cutting in the -lower valley, but Spring saw him in Ré Valley -once more wielding his divining rod and his -pickaxe untiringly.</p> - -<p>People met him when they happened to -pass that way. At times he was starved to the -point of exhaustion; but when they gave -him to eat of the food they carried, the old -Swede grew strong and full of energy once -more. He would half bury his pickaxe in -the earth, then straighten his huge body, -saying: “To-day I am as poor as a church -mouse. But to-morrow I shall be as rich as -the King at Stockholm.... I am pretty -certain of the treasure now.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span></p> - -<p>And his voice, which began in a deep bass, -would rise upwards to the shrillest falsetto.</p> - -<p>Once some lads placed a few bits of an old -stove in a pit where the Swede was digging. -He found them, and the next day he went -home to the Lower Valley delirious with joy. -When he understood that it was not the real -Treasure after all, he wept like a child, but -went straight back to Ré Valley and resumed -his digging.</p> - -<p>The Ré Valley Swede suffered from epilepsy. -Sometimes when he reached the summer -mountain farms he fell down in a fit. Therefore -people either expected some day to find -him dead up in the lonely valley or else never -to see him again.</p> - -<p>During the third summer of the mad Swede’s -digging Gaupa stayed near Gipsy Lake fishing. -One night he took his road northwards across -Ré River. A few stars twinkled. A glacier -shimmered in the Western Mountains, long -and narrow like a white bird with wings outstretched. -Gaupa moved slowly, slowly northwards -along the River.</p> - -<p>Towards morning he observed a light coming -from a small pine-covered mound, and he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> -went to investigate. A few sparks flew up, -and the pine needles were still pink in the glow -from a burning log.</p> - -<p>He heard a noise, the loud though not unmusical -sound of iron on stone, and he thought, -“There is the Swede.”</p> - -<p>A moment later he saw him. He was bent -towards the earth, digging, and Gaupa could -not help thinking of a bear digging his winter -shelter, just as he had seen one some years -before about Michaelmas time. Gaupa advanced -and the Swede straightened himself, -his face streaming with perspiration.</p> - -<p>Gaupa greets him with “Evening.” “Now -I shall soon have the Treasure,” mutters the -Swede. “It is in here, and to-morrow I shall -be a rich man, as rich as the King at Stockholm.”</p> - -<p>Then he tells his tale, how the night before -he was sitting on the slope resting, when he -suddenly saw a tiny blue light moving along -the banks of Ré River, bounding along till -at last it stopped at the mound, where he saw -as it were a bluish shimmer for a long time, -much like a firefly on a summer night. He -at once understood that this was a sign to him.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> -He went round the mound with the cleft -birch wand, and when he reached the spot -where he was then digging an invisible hand -seemed to pull the wand downwards, until it -seemed to writhe in his hands, pointing to -earth like a finger.</p> - -<p>Gaupa saw that there was a small cellar -where the Ré Valley Swede had been digging, -with reddish sandy soil and small round stones -heaped up round about. Gaupa gave the old -man food, which he wolfed down like a -starving dog, but he had no time for rest, for -as he said, when the sun rises, it will sparkle -on the Ré Valley Treasure, which has not been -exposed to the light of day for hundreds of -years.</p> - -<p>Gaupa remained near the fire watching the -Swede as he dug. He wore an old pair of -sheepskins, stiff with dirt like dried deerskin. -He would never leave Ré Valley though, he -said. When he got rich he was going to build -a small palace on Black Mountain, and there -he would sit drinking fine wine and gaze -upon the earth stretched out before him.</p> - -<p>Then he straightened himself, the pickaxe -hung loosely in his right hand, and with his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> -left he wiped the perspiration from his bald -head, and the hand left a mark, it was so dirty -with digging. The red bearded face worked -itself into a half-witted smile, the eyes grew -large, lost all keenness and became troubled. -Then he said: “And when once I die, then -I will return to Ré Valley in the shape of a -beast.”</p> - -<p>Gaupa saw how the Swede was becoming -strange, as if he were listening. Then he -uttered an ugly roar, and fell on his face almost -into the fire.</p> - -<p>Quick as lightning Gaupa pulled him away, -and there lay the old Swede prostrate in a fit. -His hand held the shaft of the pickaxe too -tightly for Gaupa to wrench it open, but he -succeeded in forcing a stick between the teeth -of the sick man to prevent him from biting off -his own tongue. His legs were pulled up -crooked under his body, a muffled groan -from the depths of his throat was heard off and -on, his mouth was smothered in foam.</p> - -<p>At last the body twitched no more, the -Swede began to breathe evenly and heavily; -he slept like a man tired to death.</p> - -<p>“He’ll soon be himself again,” thought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> -Gaupa. He had seen epileptics before and -knew that such attacks most often end in -deep sleep.</p> - -<p>But the Swede slept on and on, and Gaupa -noticed how his breathing grew fainter. At -last he had to lie down close beside the body -to catch it at all. The time came when the -Ré Valley Swede did not breathe any more. -He lay crouching over the plate which was -to have been the great adventure of his life. -But the pine-log fire burned on beside him -red, resinous, and alive.</p> - -<p>After that night Gaupa was unable to rid -himself of the last words of the old man with -the glassy troubled eyes: “in the shape of -a beast.”</p> - -<p>When evening spread her dark mantle over -the sky, when the tree-trunks ceased to be, -and he saw the wild beasts gliding like living -shadows across the wooded glades, then he -heard it: “in the shape of a beast—beast.” -And however much he willed it not to happen, -his heart would beat in his breast like the sound -of far-off muffled guns.</p> - -<p>When at dawn he waited for the capercailzie’s -love song, the mystical peals of bells<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> -of the forest, he heard what he had noticed -since his earliest youth: although the silence -was absolute, there seemed to be someone talking -somewhere, far away in no particular -direction only far away. He had often thought -of the People of the Hills, for Gaupa believed -in them most sincerely; he had both seen -and heard inexplicable things, but ever since -the death of the Ré Valley Swede the low distant -murmur became words, “Beast, Beast, -Beast....”</p> - -<p>Gaupa was constantly expecting something -to happen. The tension of it was like music -to his soul. Ever since that time when he -watched through the night beside the dead -Swede, felt his hands growing cold, saw his -lips growing blue, ever since that time the -night and the forest seemed to attract him -even more strongly than before. The possibilities -hinted at by that one word “beast” -ran through his brain like an icy trickle, -became a sweet pain—“Beast, Beast....”</p> - -<p>Gaupa had never known fear in the woods, -not even when once he killed a bear cub and -the mother bear rushed straight towards him -with huge leaping strides—even then he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> -not afraid. He just sent a bullet through the -head when she was four paces away. And it -is easy to understand that the last words of the -Ré Valley Swede did not frighten him.</p> - -<p>Only he acquired a strange habit. After -shooting an animal he invariably looked into -its eyes. It had become such a confirmed -habit that he did not think about it, for ten -or twelve years had elapsed since the corpse -of the Ré Valley Swede had been carried away -to civilisation on the back of a horse, and in -Gaupa’s thoughts the memory had grown -somewhat blurred. All the same he could at -will recall the face of the dead man in the glow -of the fire, a face as red as the trunk of a pine -tree in the evening sun.</p> - -<p>The old Swede had said he would return to -Ré Valley in the shape of a beast.... Gaupa -remembered what had happened some time -before on a farm north in the Lower Valley, -a farm where the outlying meadows mingled -with the highest birch copses just below the -bare mountain.</p> - -<p>The farmer’s son married the prettiest maid -in all the valley—oh, what a beauty she was!—but -pale and delicate as a winter’s moon.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> -And just as the moon dies and vanishes before -the light, so life ebbed out of her slowly, oh so -slowly. But she clung to life, and she said -that if she died she would return to her boy -husband in the shape of a bird. And she did -die.</p> - -<p>The following summer the people of the -farm were astonished to see a mountain grouse -amongst the poultry. At first she was shy and -disappeared every night, but she was always -there in the morning. At last the bird grew -so tame that the lad who had lost his girl-bride -could hold it in his hands.</p> - -<p>When winter came the grouse changed her -feathers and became snowy white, and one -day she flew to the mountains straight towards -the sun. The shimmering sunshine absorbed -her, and to the lad she seemed to be a white -angel flying into heaven.</p> - -<p>When Gaupa first heard the story he felt -himself start. The girl had kept her word. -Would the half-witted Swede keep his?</p> - -<p>Then in the Spring, something happened. -Gaupa was stealing through the wooded -slopes of Ré Valley one morning about four -o’clock. The surface of the snow, thawed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> -once and frozen to hard ice afterwards, bore -his weight. Big socks outside his boots -allowed him to walk without a sound, for the -capercailzie is easily alarmed.</p> - -<p>A tiny fluffy cloud flamed red in the eastern -sky. Water from melting masses of snow -rushed down the mountain-sides, making a -sound like gusts of wind in the forest-clad -mountains.</p> - -<p>Then he heard a raven croaking above him, -and he raised his face to the sky in search for -it. What might the black bird be crying out -for? Gaupa saw warnings in many things, -and he knew that a raven’s croak generally -means something sinister. He remembered -an autumn night when he was spearing trout -somewhere west in Three Valley Mountain, -how in the moonlight he saw such a bird fly -up from the ground. Gaupa went up to the -group of young spruce out of which the raven -came and there he found the skeleton of a man, -with a half-rotten leather pack lying beside -him. It was the wandering pedlar who many -years before had insisted on crossing the -mountains to the next cultivated valley, and -had never been seen again.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span></p> - -<p>Gaupa felt quite convinced that the raven -is a sinister bird. What might that black -eater of carrion be croaking about now? -wondered Gaupa as he stole along lightly on -the Black Mountain slopes. The raven was -sure to have seen something down there in -the forest, quite sure. “Arrp!” he cried—“arrp!”</p> - -<p>Gaupa continued his way southwards, stopping -once in a while to use his ears when the -snow did not crunch under his feet. He had -not known sleep since the evening before, -when day fled from the horizon and he threw -a lump of snow on to his fire farthest up the -valley and walked into the darkness, for Gaupa -preferred the darkness to broad daylight. -He loved night.</p> - -<p>Dawn was approaching and he was growing -sleepy, a heaviness in his head took away his -interest in everything about him. But when -he reached a ridge overlooking Gipsy Lake, -all drowsiness left him instantly, for before -him in the pearly dawn he saw an enormous -grey elk cow bending over and licking a newborn -calf. He stopped short, but the elk cow -seemed to think that Gaupa himself was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> -nothing more than an animal, black as soil, -with hairless skin round eyes and nose. Terror -engulfed her, and when Gaupa drew near the -cow fled. He went up to the calf. The little -animal was wet and warm, steaming in the -cool air of the dawn, its breathing laboured, -uneven—it was newly born.</p> - -<p>Gaupa caught his eyes and gave a start; -he felt an icy chill run through his being, and -he remained kneeling holding the animal’s -gaze. Those eyes were not soulless and empty -like those of other newly-born animals. They -were human eyes, plainly and undoubtedly -the eyes of a human being.</p> - -<p>Above him the raven circled round and -round croaking its steady “Arrp,” “arrp” -until the bird turned westward and the cry -died away, an ugly threatening sound amongst -the dark clouds.</p> - -<p>Gaupa held the elk calf with both his hands. -He felt the pulse shaking its frail body, and -he noticed that it was a bull. Once more he -had visions of the Ré Valley Swede, and heard -the ugly roar that opened the epileptic attack, -heard that last gasp—“Beast, Beast....”</p> - -<p>Gaupa felt for his hunting-knife, wrenched<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> -it out of its sheath, and drew it straight across -the left ear of the calf. Then he walked away -with crackling steps.</p> - -<p>The sun reached the pine-clad ridge behind -him, played softly round the little calf’s head, -kissed him and wished him welcome to life -and to the forest.</p> - -<p class="pch">§ 4</p> - -<p>But Gaupa lay awake in Gipsy Lake Hut, -full of memories. The dog was lying silent -in sleep. Once Gaupa struck a match to -light his pipe, and in one corner his rifle -reflected the glow. “The Tempest” had -roared once that day, and there was one elk -less on the slopes of Ré Mountains.</p> - -<p>But what Gaupa saw that morning, when -aiming at the elk cow, was the calf’s left ear—it -was only half an ear. It was the same calf -he had handled the spring before, the elk calf -with human eyes. It was he who had just -cried out so uncannily like a human being -under the Black Mountain, more weirdly -than Gaupa had ever heard a beast cry before.</p> - -<p>There was also something strange about<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> -the calf’s spoors that day. The clefts were -not side by side as elk clefts usually are. They -spread out obliquely from each other. He -knew he would be able to distinguish that -spoor from a thousand. Gaupa had seen -many elk spoors in his life, but never any like -these.</p> - -<p>The stove in the hut ceased muttering. -The flue cooled down with tiny dry cracking -sounds.</p> - -<p>Below the hut a fox stopped to smell the -smoke which still lingered in the air.</p> - -<p>Up in the mountain the brook murmured -incessantly. Under the Black Mountain an -elk calf was licking the skin of his mother -which was hung up on a pole fastened to two -trees. The calf kept poking at it with his -muzzle, but the skin was dead, lifeless, with -no warmth of blood in it, and the young elk -raised his head and whimpered plaintively, -hoarsely and brokenly.</p> - -<p>In Gipsy Lake Hut Gaupa was on the point -of going to sleep when he suddenly became -wide awake again. The hut was quiet as the -tomb, but the silence slowly grew pregnant -with that inexplicable murmur which Gaupa<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> -knew so well. It was as if spirits were whispering -around him. “Beast, beast, beast.”</p> - -<p class="pch">§ 5</p> - -<p>The next day Gaupa went northwards to -Lower Valley, where people were living. They -struggle through life as best they can, and -when they die they are taken to the ancient -tarred wooden church that calls them back to -earth with dismal deep-toned bells.</p> - -<p>Gaupa’s home was a timber hut on a stony -birch-clad ridge, jutting out into the river. -The building was so near to the water’s edge -that if the spring flood was unusually high -the water almost lapped against its walls.</p> - -<p>There Gaupa and Bjönn lived alone. Gaupa -was a confirmed old bachelor, over fifty years -of age. He had reached the evening of life, -and women and love had never been anything -to him. No one had ever heard him sigh on -account of a petticoat.</p> - -<p>His real name was Sjur and he hailed from -a spot far north in the valley, a crofter’s place -called Renna. His parents died when he was -young. Sjur was not cut out for a crofter,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> -and so he built the little hut for himself -down by the river, and it stands there to this -very day.</p> - -<p>Sjur was believed to be a shoemaker by -trade and he was handy both with awl and -thread. But what use was it to take your -shoes to him when he never finished them? -If you left them with him during the potato -harvest in the autumn you could not expect -to get them back until the cuckoo was heard -in the following spring. Therefore work -grew more and more scarce, and heaven only -knew what he lived upon. But Gaupa would -gorge like a dog when there was food, and -could starve like a dog when food grew scarce.</p> - -<p>People gave him his nickname “The -Lynx” because of his strange habits. He -slept during the day and was up and about at -night, like a wild beast—like a lynx in fact.</p> - -<p>When the dalesman locked his door, blew -out his candle, and crept into his sheepskins, -then the light gleamed as bright as ever from -Gaupa’s hut. About midnight he would often -steal out into the forest only to return at day-break, -when he would creep into his hut, lie -down and sleep as a wild animal does in its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> -lair after its hunt for food. Gaupa was indeed -a strange man.</p> - -<p>There was an old schoolmaster in the valley, -who went from one farm to another teaching -for a time at each place. He wore spectacles -and was exceedingly learned, and he always -sang the corpse out of the house at funerals. -He was the oracle of the valley. He knew -everything, and could tell you why Gaupa -slept by day and went out by night.</p> - -<p>There were two kinds of people, he used to -say. Some were born by day and some by -night. Those born by night often had a -strange longing for darkness. “Look,” he -would add, “at that singular being at the -Lynx Hut. He was born by night and avoids -the day.”</p> - -<p>The schoolmaster was quite right about that. -To Gaupa the sunshine was not warm, but -cold, while the moon was quite different. In -the moonlight the shadows in the forest moved -like the shades of dead animals, a steady movement, -hardly noticeable and yet unmistakable. -Then Gaupa felt as if he himself were stealing -about on hairy soles. What a delightful -thrilling, silent restlessness there was around<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> -him! He seemed to be watched by unseen -eyes from the heaps of rocks and wooded copses, -where soft paws trotted over the moss, sinewy -bodies crouched, the whole copse felt like one -mighty enchanting mystery. There was -magic music in the air about him, a subdued -melody, and he seemed to hear the burning -stars sparkle in the firmament.</p> - -<p>On such nights Bjönn would often accompany -him. The manner of Bjönn’s arrival at -Lynx Hut was as follows. One winter a -dalesman from Lower Valley was travelling -towards the plains with a load of butter and -cured fish. When he left the town of Hönefos -on his return, he noticed a large deer-hound -following him. It was dark in colour with a -grey head and grey legs. The man drove on, -wrapped in his black sheepskin coat, with his -old horse drawing the sledge. The dog -followed.</p> - -<p>But on the evening of the second day the -dog disappeared, and a week later the same -animal, all skin and bones, crawled up to -Lynx Hut. Gaupa gave him food, and the -dog remained there. No one asked questions -about him, and Gaupa named him Bjönn.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span></p> - -<p>Towards the spring, in April, Gaupa happened -to show the dog a huge spoor in the -crusted snow under Ré Mountain. Bjönn -went absolutely mad, and the elk ox who was -at the other end of that spoor was unprepared -for such a terrible pursuit by such a tiny -animal as Bjönn appeared to be. The elk -sank through the snow crust, but Bjönn kept -on top, and three days later Gaupa carried -home venison which no one was allowed to see.</p> - -<p>From that day Bjönn grew to be the best -elk-hound in the valley. Wonderful stories -were told in the district of Gaupa and his dog. -When those two started to follow a spoor they -never gave up. They had their meals on the -spoor, they rested, and even slept there. They -followed it from one horizon to the other, -from one county to another, till at last the elk -lay dead.</p> - -<p>Gaupa and Bjönn were like the animals they -were called after, wild and ferocious. People -would say to Gaupa, “You’ll kill yourself yet -with such mad chase”—but the prophets fell -ill and died, whilst Gaupa ran on as mad as ever.</p> - -<p>He was a great teller of stories and a popular -musician at dances. Then he played on a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> -fiddle on the head of which the devil himself, -horns and all, was carved out. And when he -had had a little brandy the stories would come -pouring out between his bearded lips. He was -inexhaustible like a spring, and in everything -he told there was an alluring mystery.</p> - -<p>One night he was at a dance, telling of the -Ré Valley Swede and the elk calf from Black -Mountain—of the elk calf whose mother he -had killed two weeks before and of the ugly -cry he had heard the night afterwards, while -he spoke silence reigned, and the young girls -shivered.</p> - -<p>A few days afterwards these things were the -talk of the Valley. Such a story amongst -those people was like leaven in dough. It -grew and grew. Old sagas and old superstitions -were added, and even the Sacred Word of -God. For in those days the people of Lower -Valley had nothing else to speak of but what -actually took place within the limits of the -mountain ridges before their eyes. Kings -might die in the great world beyond—that -was a matter of minor interest to them as -compared with the death of a six-weeks-old -piglet belonging to a crofter at Cool Hill.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span></p> - -<p>Therefore it is nothing to wonder at that -when Gaupa told the story of the elk calf of -Black Mountain, the Ré Valley Swede was in -a manner of speaking resurrected from his -tomb.</p> - -<p>Then suddenly everybody remembered a -number of things about him. The Ré Valley -Swede was not a true believer, he did not -accept the Word humbly with a Christian’s -heart. The Bible says that when people die -they either go to heaven or hell, and no one in -Lower Valley doubted for one moment that -as a rule they all went straight to heaven from -their Valley—that is, if we may judge from -their funeral sermons.</p> - -<p>But the old Swede believed that many things -might happen after death; he even seemed to -believe that the dead might return—as beasts!</p> - -<p>The schoolmaster explained that there was -another religion which taught such a belief. -But people did not care two straws about other -religions. The Ré Valley Swede was a -mocker, a free-thinker; a cold blast followed -him wherever he went. Martin Ormerud -recalled how when he entered the barn where -the Ré Valley Swede was laid out, a big black<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> -bird rose from his head. “Mercy upon us!” -people cried.</p> - -<p>Thus they gossiped; old wives eighty and -ninety years of age, spectacles on nose and -Bibles on their knees, read aloud with -trembling voices how “the Lord endures not -a mocker.” The old Swede was a living -testimony to the truth of the Word. As a -punishment for his sins and his mocking of -God, his restless spirit was now condemned -to roam about Ré Mountains imprisoned -in an animal’s body. God have mercy -upon the poor soul when once the old -sinner died, once more up there among the -pines along Ré River.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-005.jpg" width="400" height="235" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span></p> - -<p class="pch">§ 6</p> - -<p>Years passed.</p> - -<p>In the wilderness between Gipsy Lake to -the South and Lower Valley to the north there -roamed about a wizard elk that no dog and no -marksman could conquer.</p> - -<p>The dalesmen called him Rauten; why, -no one could say. Such names come floating -on the north wind, and have no origin. -Perhaps the name stuck because when he -was still a calf he would low, for all the -world like cattle on an autumn evening.</p> - -<p>Rauten wandered about Ré Mountains, not -like an ordinary earthly elk, but like a being -half body and half spirit. No lead bullets -could wound him. He was rarely seen by -human eyes.</p> - -<p>During the mating season, at dawn and in -the gloaming, foresters sometimes heard his -mating call. It sounded more human than -animal, and it made the foresters realise that -they had nerves after all.</p> - -<p>Now and then they happened to see his -spoor, unlike all other elk spoors. The clefts -pointed outwards, like the spoor of a man -walking toes outwards. The Ré Valley Swede<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> -had also walked toes turned outwards. When -he went along the high road northwards one -foot pointed east, the other west.</p> - -<p>Long-limbed men strode miles and leagues -after Rauten, but his spoor never ended. -Dogs chased him, and returned limping and -moaning.</p> - -<p>There was a black-bearded man whom they -called Gaupa. He and his dog Bjönn followed -elk spoors from one horizon to the other, from -one county to the other. But whenever they -happened to see an elk spoor with the clefts -pointing apart they turned away. Chasing a -spirit is like chasing a shadow.</p> - -<p>Years passed.</p> - -<p class="pch">§ 7</p> - -<p>On Bog Hill, near the outskirts of Ré -Valley, an elk bull was standing immovable.</p> - -<p>It was dawn, when light and darkness intermingle, -when the wild animal threads softly -to his lair, tramples in a circle for a little while, -and then crouches down and closes his eyelids. -The few hours out of each twenty-four when -death and life are locked in each other’s arms -have come to an end. Here and there a drop -of blood lies on the earth like some moist red -flower, or a heap of loose feathers seems to tell -where a bird has undressed; only that particular -bird no longer needs feathers.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-049.jpg" width="400" height="536" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p> -<p> </p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span></p> - -<p>Still the bull elk on Bog Hill did not move -a muscle. His head stood out clearly against -the dawn which flooded the eastern sky like a -lake of yellow light. His antlers resembled -young bushes, and between the tines a dying -star twinkled in silvery paleness.</p> - -<p>It was no mortal animal standing there; it -was a ghost from dead generations, an animal -spirit from the eternal hunting-grounds.</p> - -<p>Daylight grew more and more whilst the -elk stood still. A grey film of dawn decked -the side of the pine trunks turned to the east. -The light filtered through the pine needles -as through a sieve. A bird chirped a while -and then became silent again, like a life that -dies just as it is born.</p> - -<p>Then the elk’s head turned, quite slowly -from west to north. In his slightly curved -muzzle there was the dreaming melancholy of -wooded dells. His nostrils worked incessantly, -expanding and contracting, the cold morning -air running in and out of his nose. His eyes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> -were large and wide awake. For the call of sex -burned in his mighty body—the call to mating -which rises and falls from time to time in eternal -rhythm, from generation to generation.</p> - -<p>One ear of that elk was only half an ear. It -was Rauten, the largest and wildest of all elks -between mountain and valley. Mating time -had come, when bull seeks cow, and cow seeks -bull, when angry eyes stare into angry eyes -in the fight for the female, when antler meets -antler, breaking the silence of the forest with -mighty crashes.</p> - -<p>Rauten sniffed and listened. Into his -nostrils entered the smell of rottening leaves -and boggy marshes. It was late autumn, and -the life which spring had created was on the -point of returning to earth. But no scent of -the female was borne on the slight breeze from -the north that fills his nose. All the same he -remained; now and then he cocked an ear, -backwards and forwards, but no sound was -heard from any living throat.</p> - -<p>Then he lifted his head, opened his mouth -and gave the mating call, a deep nasal sound -which floated over the bog and died away -again.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span></p> - -<p>Again Rauten listened. The western slopes -took on a lighter shade, but the valleys and -gullies still yawned black.</p> - -<p>Then he turned and went northwards along -the ridge, with long strides, covering the -ground at great speed. One cleft hoof -splashes into a tiny pool of water, the other -crushes a small spruce which has been ages -about sprouting in the shallow soil, and might -have grown to be a big tree.</p> - -<p>Rauten knew of a cow living thereabouts. -He had come a full league to find her, and soon -a strange scent greeted his nostrils—a kind of -burnt acrid smell, recalling a billy-goat at -mating time.</p> - -<p>Rauten went on till he found a marshy place -with yellowing birches. On a hill-top close -by, a small hole had been dug out in the earth—and -not long before, for a couple of torn -roots appeared fresh and white where they had -been broken, not brownish as they are when -they have been exposed for some time.</p> - -<p>The hole had been dug out by mating-mad -elk bulls, and the strong scent emanated from -it. The hole seemed to breathe out that -scent, and Rauten was in the middle of it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span></p> - -<p>He nosed the earth, but there was no breath -of a cow. Then he rubbed himself against -a small spruce.</p> - -<p>Suddenly a soft-eyed elk cow came out on -to the marsh below, and both animals stood still -for a moment, heads raised eyeing each other. -Rauten felt as light as light; he ran—no, he -floated towards her. Passion was boiling -inside him. He ran in rings round her, that -shy female with lowered ears and patient, -expectant eyes.</p> - -<p>Then he broke loose upon her: He followed -the same almighty law of Nature which compels -the unconscious capercailzie and his cackling -hen, the valiant wood-cock—yes, and even the -little anemone which stealing the blue of the -heavens spreads new life out of tiny soft -stamens.</p> - -<p>For a short time silence reigned over the -marsh, except now and then for the crack of -a breaking twig under the elks’ hoofs.</p> - -<p>Then another elk appeared. It was a three-year-old, -with slender horns. He saw the -two in front of him and made as if he would -jump. In him also the forces of nature were -at work. Strength pulsated through his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> -young body, each muscle trembled impatiently -with longing for a contest. For that cow with -Rauten belonged to him, to him alone. She -had gone with him the day before; she was -his, his own. The three-year-old grew large-eyed -and wild-eyed, his withers bristled like -a brush. Rauten must be vanquished, Rauten -must die.</p> - -<p>The two elk bulls faced each other on Bog -Hill like two living springs of force. There -were four eyes full of madness, four antlers, -and those antlers mean death.</p> - -<p>Rauten was like one suddenly waking from -a trance. He was quivering, wide awake; -for the cow who was peeping at them curiously -from behind a crooked spruce was his. He -had mastered her, he had floated with her -through golden sunlit mists; she was his, his -own. That youngster must be conquered. -The youngster must die.</p> - -<p>The first war-cry was raised, a hoarse cry -from a savage soul on fire. “Yah! Yah!”</p> - -<p>The younger elk lifted his upper body, a -hoof was flung through the air, making a dark -line across the pinewoods, stopped and fell.</p> - -<p>“Crack!” The sound was at once soft<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> -and firm. Rauten felt a fierce burning sensation -under one ear, a slight mist shadowed his -brain for a moment, then all was clear again.</p> - -<p>In that brief second the other hoof from the -youngster struck his neck. Hair and skin -was flayed off, a fire licked Rauten where the -hoof struck, and then....</p> - -<p>There he stood, half rampant, a thunder-cloud, -a storm. He turned his eyes, turned -them slowly, threateningly. They were no -longer brown, but white. It was as if all madness -raging in that huge body had concentrated -in the eyes, turning them white. Rauten -towered as tall as the young pine beside -him, his jaws opened, breath steamed out and -his tongue protruded, long, wet, slavering. -Then Rauten struck back. His forelegs were -no longer skin and bones and muscles belonging -to a body. They were shadows, -spirits, ghosts, sinister forebodings of blood -and destruction. Lightning gleamed and -thunder crashed. The storm had broken loose -and the three-year-old was there to meet it. -The God of the wilds have mercy on his body!</p> - -<p>The sun had not yet risen, but was still -resting somewhere behind the hills. But when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> -Rauten struck, the three-year-old saw the -sun all the same, not only one, but a number -of suns, a swarm of them. They danced in -his head like round sparkling disks of wonderful -colours. They gleamed green like fireflies, -metallic like a bluebottle, copper-red like -the harvest moon.</p> - -<p>Another blow fell on the heels of the first -one. It struck above one eye. And once -more the tapestry of the firmament was rolled -up before the sight of the youngster. There -were no suns that time, but stars—what a host -of stars, as numerous as dewdrops on the grass, -sparkling like snow in spring! They leapt -and danced inside his head, whirling madly -together.</p> - -<p>They went out suddenly, all of them, disappeared -like a mist, and then he saw the old -sun peeping red-eyed from behind the eastern -mountains.</p> - -<p>The three-year-old went backwards and -retreated, for this was so sudden. He had -attacked a rocky wall and found it hard. But -Rauten did not let go; he followed, followed, -and up from hot gorges and reeking inner -bodies came the war-cry again: “Yah! Yah!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p> - -<p>Their antlers met writhing into each other. -Snouts touched the earth, the bulls groaning -as if to rid themselves of something. The -sinews of their hind-quarters shivered, trembled, -rage gave life to every hair in their -manes, their stumpy tails were raised angrily. -Two sharp backs stood out against the sky like -monsters. Every fibre of their bodies was -taut, muscles writhed like worms and red-hot -blood boiled rhythmically through their veins.</p> - -<p>Their antlers were still interlaced in fierce -contest; those of the youngster pale grey, -Rauten’s brown, watered, lined like iceworn -rocks, as if some unknown hand had written -strange runes on them. They hammered and -crashed, their hoofs cut gaping wounds in the -moss, the dew fell like tears from the sedge, -and dark spoors appeared on the bog where -the mighty ones walked. But the three-year-old -went backwards.</p> - -<p>Their antlers released each other, their -bodies rose, and once more legs turned into -fleeting shadows. The blows sounded as if -someone were beating sheepskins with a stick; -hoarse sounds escaped from their throats, hair -flew in the air like driven snow.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span></p> - -<p>The cow looked on, slightly dazed, nodding -as it were her approval, for that was what she -liked. The tension between the bulls invaded -her; she could not remain calm any more, -she leapt forwards, stopped, stamped a little, -and once she lowed loudly, out of sheer excitement. -It was for her they were fighting, for -her their sharp hoofs made their bodies bloom -red with blood.</p> - -<p>The red rose over Rauten’s shoulder grew -and lengthened into a long narrow leaf, changing -shape continually, but not changing -colour. The three-year-old wore a number of -such roses, which easily grew out of his young, -well-beaten body.</p> - -<p>The cow’s sympathies, however, were all for -Rauten. He was the stronger, and she wanted -the stronger. Even then she felt deliciously -faint after their mating.</p> - -<p>Rauten’s madness was that time sky-high, -his muscles tautened and relaxed and in their -rhythmical movement made a wild song.</p> - -<p>Both bulls had now begun to feel the strain. -The mouths of both were white with bubbling -foam, and their heads felt heavy, but their -haunches stood up like bushes, and Rauten’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> -eyes were alight with savage madness. It was -as if he wanted to use to the fullest extent that -opportunity of working off all the superfluous -vitality which had accumulated in him in the -course of a long, long year.</p> - -<p>A few small bushes seemed to jump forward -in the bog to see the fight. Tree-tops stretched -their necks one behind the other, staring. -Sparks of light flew up from the grass; it was -the cool breath of night which remained like -dew on the earth.</p> - -<p>Once more the cow lowed with excitement. -A woodpecker sat on a dry, hollow spruce tree. -She was green as the slimy stones in the brook. -She turned her head, listening in shiny-eyed -astonishment at all the noise. Then her beak -hammered on the wood once more. “Knrrr!” -said the hollow tree-trunk.</p> - -<p>Rauten’s skin was wet with sweat, and under -his belly, on his flanks, flakes of foam boiled -as if on a fleeing horse. And still his muscles -sang their mad song, and again the three-year-old -saw suns and stars. He staggered, retreated -to the edge of the bog, sank on his knees, but -rose at once. He had fought and lost, he had -become a smaller beast in the woods. He was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> -giving in, only he did not want to turn round -and run away until he was obliged to do so.</p> - -<p>At the edge of the bog the unexpected -happened. A little hill runs down there, and -a high stump of a tree stood close beside a -spruce. The stump was about the same height -as an elk, and it looked as if a storm had once -felled a spruce. The younger bull retreated -towards this stump, and without giving warning -Rauten ran his antlers under him. Then -he made a mighty effort which will not soon -be forgotten in the Bog Hill forest. The -three-year-old was raised on end, stood for a -second on his hind legs, was pushed over and -fell down on his back—between the tall stump -and its neighbour the spruce tree, and was -wedged in securely between them, fast as if -in a vice.</p> - -<p>Rauten stood with head uplifted looking at -his helpless foe whose legs uselessly beat the -empty air. Rauten wanted to use his antlers -again, to kill, but he could not reach. The -younger bull’s legs worked like a windmill, -and a blow from them would hurt. Rauten -remained there a long time, the youngster on -his back, mouth wide open, steaming.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span></p> - -<p>Then the cow joined him, and Rauten went -to meet her. The storm within him calmed -down. For the cow began to lick him, and -her tongue was soft, so caressingly soft. His -shoulder blazed red like the sunrise, and his -neck wept warm tears on to the moist earth. -Every touch of the cow’s tongue was a reward, -humble admiration of him only—the greatest -and the strongest among the elk bulls of valley -or mountains, the crowned king of elks in Ré -Valley. Nothing could stand up before him. -He broke down everything before him like -a falling tree in the bushes. He trotted southwards -with the cow by his side across Bog Hill, -like Victory itself, even though one ear was -but half a one, and his body wept blood. -Round their legs the white heads of the bog -down-grass moved like fat white birds, while -the elks ploughed their way, dark grey under -the sloping rays of the newly-risen sun.</p> - -<p class="p2">The three-year-old lay on his back all the -morning, wedged in between the stump and -the tree-trunk.</p> - -<p>There was no possible means of getting out -again. He could not turn, the space was too<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> -narrow, and his legs could get no hold in the -empty air. He worked till he grew weak. -Then he lay still, knees bent heavenwards as -if he were praying to the sun for help. His -tongue lolled limply out of one corner of his -mouth, and the sun burned his face pitilessly. -Then he shut his eyes.</p> - -<p class="pch">§ 8</p> - -<p>That same day in the afternoon Bjönn from -Lynx Hut was following an elk spoor southwards -through Ré Valley.</p> - -<p>Bjönn ran quickly, nose to earth. He -crossed wide marshes and small bogs where -the dwarfed pines spread their wide, flat -crowns like noses. He crossed ridges and -valleys, and at last his course went towards -Bog Hill.</p> - -<p>There his song grew wildly excited. Gaupa -was half a league farther north, but he overtook -the dog within an hour. He went straight -up to the helpless elk, whose legs still pawed -the air. He aimed, pulled the trigger, and -the bull elk moved no more.</p> - -<p>“H’m”—Gaupa wondered.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span></p> - -<p>“That is an elk bull,” he mused, “but in -what a strange position! How in all the -world did he happen to lie on his back between -that stump and the spruce tree? It is inexplicable.”</p> - -<p>He investigated the bog, picked up a tuft -of hair which was dark, and then another -which was lighter. But the whole bog looked -as if someone had driven a harrow from end -to end, and from side to side criss-cross.</p> - -<p>“H’m,” Gaupa mused once more. Lord, -what a fight there had been! He walked -about studying the spoors. His eyes searched -the earth. Two bulls had been here. One -remained down there on the slope, and he -had blown life out of him with his own -“Tempest.” But the other bull was larger—and -why, of course it was Rauten, the -wizard elk. The cleft spoors stood out with -curved outer edges as the spoors of a bull -generally are.</p> - -<p>Gaupa raised his head reflectingly. Round -about him the calm glow of autumn burned -in the air and on the earth. The slopes were -multicoloured with pinewood and leafage -intermingled, spotted like the coat of a lynx.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span></p> - -<p>He began to flay the dead elk; but as it -was too late in the day to go down in Lower -Valley with the news that he had killed an elk, -he decided to go east and spend the night in -the nearest highland farm.</p> - -<p>On his way he meditated on Rauten, but -he was not such a fool as to try to trace him. -That would be sheer waste of time. He was -not such a fool as to try that. For many are -the hunters who have returned with sore-pawed -and worn-out dogs when they have had the -wizard elk before them.</p> - -<p>Rauten had peculiar ways. He rarely ran -faster than the dogs could go, but he never -really stopped, never long enough for the -hunter to overtake him. He sought out all -the lakes and ponds in existence, and crossed -them. You might follow him for hours and -hours if your dog did not give up—as he was -sure to do sooner or later. Very eager dogs -were known to chase Rauten till they completely -lost their way, and they had been found -in far-off districts past the mountain gap. -Also all foresters in those parts agreed that bad -luck went with the wizard elk. Petter -Kleivaberget fell and broke his arm when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> -chasing Rauten. Arne Öigarden shot his -own dog in mistake for the elk—a fine dog, -too, worth a hundred dollars. And the man -from Krödsherred who attempted to run down -Rauten on ski one winter broke both skis and -as nearly as anything died in the snow. He -was so weak when he reached the Tolleiv -Mountain Farm that he could not walk across -the pasture—he crawled on all fours and was -a whole hour about it too, so it was clear to -anybody how near to death’s door he had -been.</p> - -<p>No, Gaupa would not follow Rauten.</p> - -<p>He went east to Morsæter. The house lies -in a little valley branching out from the Ré -Valley proper. As he walked he felt uneasy. -His head was heavy and he coughed now and -then; he breathed heavily going uphill—he -who never used to notice a hill, he who could -mount the slopes at a run. Presently he began -to perspire also. Gaupa did not usually -perspire for just nothing.</p> - -<p>It was probably because he had sat down -on a peak last night and felt exceedingly cold, -after sunset. He had been running pretty -hard just before, so that he was a little moist.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> -And that mountain peak was quite bare, and -such places are invariably rather cold.</p> - -<p>Some years before Gaupa had had -pneumonia. An epidemic raged in the district -at that time, and there were many funeral -parties and many sad-looking pine branches -along all roads. And the young people did -not dance again until Midsummer Eve.</p> - -<p>Gaupa had really been very bad at that -time, and Harald Övrejordet, the lay preacher -of the valley, the high priest as they called -him, came up to him and begged him to be -converted from all his sins. Perhaps he would -have turned from his evil ways, if he had not -felt that selfsame day that the sickness had -taken a turn for the better, and that he was -going to get well. Therefore he was in no -hurry, he would wait and see. He recovered -completely and remained in sin for the time -being.</p> - -<p>But ever since then Gaupa found that if he -ran really very hard a sharp needle seemed -to run through his right lung. That needle -was a perfect nuisance. It had cost him -several horse-loads of meat, for it had forced -him to stop while the elk ran away.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p> - -<p>He felt that needle now, but, curse it, it -was sure to go away again.</p> - -<p>Towards evening the sky grew filmy, the -sun dull-eyed, the earth grey. A lake to the -north was just then gleaming pale under -the wooded slopes. The fire went out and -the lake was nothing but water.</p> - -<p>The wet, naked rocks in the east mountains -were also fiery while the sun shone. They -seemed to be drops of fire which had fallen -amongst mountain peaks and forests. They -too went out.</p> - -<p>Gaupa walked towards Morsæter, Bjönn on -the lead. The needle in his lung was burning—a -confounded nuisance and no doubt about -it. It came like lightning, and so unexpectedly -that it jerked his whole body. But -it was sure to go away again.</p> - -<p>In the gloaming he saw the flat pasture -round the Morsæter. The forest yawned, and -he reached the fence. The roof had been freshly -shingled, and looked very white and clean.</p> - -<p>He searched for the key of the door. It -was usually to be found in a hole in the wall, -but not so that day. He tried other places, -but there was no key.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span></p> - -<p>As a matter of fact Gaupa was man enough -to open a lock. He also knew how to take -out window frames, so tenderly and carefully -that they bore no mark of axe or knife. No -house was locked to him, and if the worst came -to the worst he would crawl down the chimney!</p> - -<p>The padlock was opened without trouble. -Gaupa merely gave it a few mysterious taps -with his sheath knife. The hook released the -body of the lock and seemed to say, “Please -enter.”</p> - -<p>While Gaupa was cutting wood for the night -behind the house, the echo from his axe beat -his ears like shots. The sky was sleepy and -cloudy. Perhaps there would be rain.</p> - -<p>He stood by the hearth cutting chips to -start a fire, and felt his head reeling. But -his will controlled the knife, so that the fat -pine-root chips curled before him like small -bouquets.</p> - -<p>The fire was lit, and then three living things -were in the hut—Gaupa and Bjönn and the -Fire. Gaupa sat on the hearth stone, creeping -close to the fire. For it was cold and -shivery that night, ever so cold. The boiling-hot -coffee helped a little against the cold,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> -glowing inside him for a little while, but very -soon he shivered again. Cold blasts went -down his spine, and they made him start and -say “Damn” to the fire.</p> - -<p>He pulled his bed near the fire. Two -sheepskin rugs were there, and he found -another in the next room. He went to bed -with one under and two over him, but even -then he felt cold. It was as if his body had -ceased to produce warmth, he was cold from -within, and a pang shot through his right side -and would not leave him, however much he -rubbed himself with his hard hand.</p> - -<p>After a short time he fell asleep and dreamed—that -he was chasing Rauten, running till he -was quite winded—it was quite absurd how -very much he was out of breath. And Rauten -with the half-ear stood before him looking -at him out of deep human eyes, but Bjönn lay -still beside him licking his paw—what an idiot -of a dog! But when Gaupa fired he saw the -bullet leap out of the muzzle of the gun and -run slowly through the air as if time was of no -account, and when at last it reached Rauten’s -forehead the bullet rolled down as if it were a -pea, which Rauten bending low picked up<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> -and chewed, very much as Bjönn did when -you gave him sugar.... And at that -moment Rauten was changed into a man, the -Ré Valley Swede, only he had those enormous -elk horns on his head. Gaupa’s hand fumbled -for another cartridge, but then he woke up, -perspiring.</p> - -<p>Morning came—after a long, long night. -Gaupa wanted to go to Lower Valley with -news of the elk. He flung his legs out of bed -and stood on the floor. But what the devil -was the matter? His head had grown so -heavy; the floor rose, he had to stretch out -a foot to keep it from upsetting him. He -had never felt anything like it! Perhaps he -was going to be taken ill out there! Perhaps -he would remain in that bed as helpless as a -baby! “No,” he muttered, “I’m damned -if I do.”</p> - -<p>He sat down again and put his shoes on. -That was better, but he could not swallow a -bite. The food seemed to grow in his mouth -as soon as he had bitten it. All the same he -packed his sack and went outside.</p> - -<p>Mist engulfed him like an enormous white -wave. He saw the trees like shadows, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> -little barn in the meadow was hidden from -sight.</p> - -<p>With Bjönn on the lead he staggered across -the meadow; and when he opened the gate in -the fence, nature was so silent that the slightest -noise seemed to saturate the air with sound.</p> - -<p>He crossed the brook that runs from the -little lake, and a few fish ran back into the -lake, their backs so high that they moved the -surface of the water. They are playing already, -he thought; the trouts are laying -their roe now about Michaelmas time.</p> - -<p>Gaupa sat down. Bjönn pulled at the lead -as if wishing to investigate the mist.</p> - -<p>Gaupa felt that he was far from being well. -For by that time there was a hot pang in both -his sides, and his chest seemed too small for -his breathing. It was four full hours’ walk to -the Lower Valley. He might meet people -before that. He had seen wood cutters at a -place near Spæende Lake, where he passed a -couple of days before, but even that is two -hours’ walk, and Gaupa, the Lynx, was so -uncertain of himself that he doubted whether -he could manage that little bit in two hours.</p> - -<p>In fact he began to see himself as he was that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> -winter with pneumonia, a helpless man, whom -his legs would not carry. At times he was -in this world and at times in another, where -everything went awhirl and upside down.</p> - -<p>If now he should lie like that under a spruce -tree between Morsæter and Spænde Lake, it -would be anything but funny, No one would -find him, for who could know the ways of the -Lynx? It would be better to crawl back to -his bed of last night than risk a sick-bed under -a spruce tree.</p> - -<p>And then Gaupa behaved in a strange way. -As usual he was wearing his brown cap with -a very small peak, which he had worn for -ever so many years. It may seem strange -that he should drag about such a rag of a cap, -but there is nothing so strange about it after -all, for it was a Lucky Cap, and after Bjönn -and “The Tempest” it was Gaupa’s most -cherished possession. Gaupa, it may be said, -never went into the woods without that cap, -and it showed signs of wear, for in the middle -of the crown there was a round hole all through -to the lining. The branches had made that -when he moved about under the trees.</p> - -<p>Gaupa took off his cap as solemnly and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> -earnestly as if he were entering the Lower -Valley Church on a Mass Sunday, but he was -sitting by a mountain lake, bareheaded and -black-haired in the mountain mist.</p> - -<p>Then he flung the cap through the air, -watching its flight with tense eyes. The cap -turned a few somersaults, described an arch, -struck the heather with a soft whisper, and -lay still. Gaupa walked softly up to it and -noticed very carefully the direction of the -peak. It pointed to the house, and Gaupa -knew then that he would go back. There -could be no doubt about it.</p> - -<p>For he believed in the power of the cap, and -had never had cause to regret it. Many a -time the cap had shown its remarkable power -of giving good advice. When uncertain about -the direction to be taken in order to find game, -he had often thrown his cap, and where the -peak pointed when it fell, there he went, and -there the elks were, even when he could never -have dreamed of finding them there. The -cap was as good as a dog with a supernaturally -fine scent.</p> - -<p>Gaupa returned to the hut, and one need -not laugh at him for that. Anyone living like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> -he did sees many strange things which sound -even strange in the telling. Beasts and bird -and fish, yea, even trees and grass possess -strange powers and may tell the future to those -who have ears to hear.</p> - -<p>Inside the but Gaupa tore off some bits of -stale bread, hard as stone, for Bjönn, and then -he crept in under his sheepskins.</p> - -<p class="p2">It cleared up later in the day. The earth -changed her face and began to smile, the last -flakes of mist vanished in the air as if by magic.</p> - -<p>At sunset a red eye seemed to shut among -the peaks. A long ridge of shadows made its -way up an eastern slope. It rose slowly, -inexorably, like water in a lock. The last -rays of the evening sun covered a hill like a -red cap.</p> - -<p>Dusk fell, but the yellow birches round the -bogs seemed to have drunk the sunshine and -kept it in them, so that even in the gloaming -the silver birches stood out like patches of -sunlight that had been forgotten. On the -fence round the pasture a tiny bird poured -forth clear ripples of song into the stillness of -the evening.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span></p> - -<p>There were no signs of life near the hut.</p> - -<p>Inside, Bjönn was crouching at the foot of -the bed, his nose under his tail and his ears flat. -The hearth was black and dead, under the -sheepskin rugs Gaupa lay, a quick breathing -was heard. Once the dog rose to lick Gaupa’s -hairy head. Then a rough hand with black -nails was extended to stroke him. “Poor -doggie,” someone whispered.</p> - -<p>Then the dog curled up again at the foot of -the bed, swallowed noisily a few times, and -then there was no sound but the laboured -breathing from the bed.</p> - -<p>A silent fight was fought in that lonely -mountain hut. A hardened body rose up -against something intangible something that -could not be hit, a trembling of every muscle, -a heaviness in head and chest not to be shaken -off. At last he was conscious that his whole -body noted every single sensation, and he -could not ward off a feeling of dread. Nobody -had any errand up there at that time of the -year. The manure had been spread over -the pasture, and he could not think of any -other work for the people from the valley, -knowing that they had no wood-cutting to do.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-077.jpg" width="400" height="198" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<p>Then he thought of Bjönn, whom he could -feel like a warm cushion across his feet. Bjönn -was a wise dog. Often when the elk had -fallen, far away, the dog returned to him to -tell with eyes and gesture, and he followed -him to where the elk lay. Would he not also -be wise enough to fetch people, if his master -rose no more?</p> - -<p>Dusk came, even in Gaupa’s brain. The -sheepskins were so hot that he longed to throw -them off, only he knew it would be dangerous -to do so.</p> - -<p>Sometimes his eyes opened, and then they -were moist as if he were moved to tears or as -if he had done a long, hard sprint. The corner<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> -of his mouth worked incessantly; he was -never without that, but it did not disturb him -then.</p> - -<p>A sharp gleam of light played upon a tin -pan on the wall for a very long time. Then -the face of night lay close up to the window -panes, looking in, and the pan ceased to gleam! -Only the newly-shingled roof of the cowshed -stood out white in the darkness.</p> - -<p class="pch">§ 9</p> - -<p>On such September nights moonlight in -the mountains seems like magic.</p> - -<p>That night the moon was full and round, -a glowing pupil in the blue eye of heavens. -A light mist floated over the lake, the outlines -of the mountains blurred like shadows. The -western Ré Mountains looked as if they had -opened to let out all their hidden treasure of -silver. The streamlets wormed their way like -molten metal down the steep slopes; far below -they foamed like avalanches of snow. When -the water went to rest in the lakelets down at -the bottom of the valleys, the silver gleam -moved lazily below the wooded slopes. A big<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> -animal crossed a moonlit glade. It was not -an animal at all, but a dream which the forest -and the night see in their sleep. Long shadows -fell on the glade and the deer waded in them. -But the rays of the moon caressed its back with -soft, trembling touch, and its eyes were wet.</p> - -<p>Noiseless like a cat Rauten went forward, -no sound under his hoofs, no crack from a -broken branch. He walked as if careful not -to waken what sleeps about him; but he did -not quite succeed. A capercailzie was perched -in a tree just above him. Her head crept out -from under her wing and her hairless eyelids -opened; her neck hung down as she stared, -but Rauten disappeared, and the bird hid her -head under the wing once more.</p> - -<p>A hare jumped up—a spirit in flight.</p> - -<p>Now and then Rauten’s nose nearly touched -the earth. He sought the scent of a cow elk. -For he was alone again to-day. The cow he -had fought for so valiantly the day before no -longer wanted him. Cows are unstable like -all females. Rauten was not the one and only -elk for her any longer.</p> - -<p>But Rauten might find other mates; he -was never at rest, because of the cows. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> -wanted to fight for them all, to strike terror -in the heart of every bull he met, beat them -with his antlers till they would writhe limply -like willow twigs.</p> - -<p>He stopped sniffing towards a faint movement -in the air, his ears eagerly caught a tiny -sleepy murmur from the brooks. But there -was no scent but that of bogs and woods.</p> - -<p>He went on silently with enormous strides—a -fairy-tale walk towards sunrise.</p> - -<p>In the mountain hut there was nothing but -that laboured breathing from the bed. Every -once in a while Bjönn would sigh deeply as if -he were greatly troubled. Then he would -lick his jaws a few times and sleep on, while -the moonlit square moved across the floor like -a living thing.</p> - -<p>A breath of wind soughed round the walls—hush—sh—sh; -a loose window pane let in -a tiny draught.</p> - -<p>Then the dog’s head was raised instantly, -suddenly as when a wild animal is disturbed in -his lair. Bjönn was awake and alert. Eyes -glowing, nostrils alternately large and small. -He smelt some scent which that breath of air -had carried into the hut.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span></p> - -<p>He jumped on to the floor with a soft thud -and stood with both forepaws on the window-sill. -His triangular ears were stiff with eagerness; -he saw something out there, growled -deep down in his throat as if in anger. What -did he see?</p> - -<p>Suddenly he left the window and stood by -the door. With an impatient bark he scratched -the door to get out. Realising the futility of -that, he rushed back to the window and the -floorboards groaned beneath his weight. -Again he stood up, his forepaws on the sill, -howling as if in pain. What did he see out -there?</p> - -<p>In the bog below the pasture there was an -elk. No bush could be more immovable than -he. The elk seemed to sleep or to listen for -something. His antlers appeared to float on -the silvery lake below—full of shining silver -bowls gently rocking on its surface.</p> - -<p>Gaupa sat up in the bed. There must be -something very special to make Bjönn carry -on like that....</p> - -<p>He could see through the window from -where he sat, and it seemed to him that never -before were air and mountains so fiery yellow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> -and so strange-looking. They seemed to him -to be burning with fever....</p> - -<p>Farthest away and highest up he saw the -sky, blue and teeming with stars. Below -there swam a mountain, revealing its bristling -back, and the slope was wrapped in a misty -veil. Nearer to him at the bottom of the valley -the lake flamed so brightly as to hurt his eyes, -and on the bog nearer still he saw ... he -saw——</p> - -<p>He stroked his eyes with his finger and -looked again.</p> - -<p>An elk was standing on the bog between the -pasture and the lake, asleep or listening.</p> - -<p>Gaupa wondered whether he was losing his -senses or beginning to see visions.</p> - -<p>Once more his hand touched his eyelids, -and he felt how weak and limp his arm was. -He turned his head. There was Bjönn, -whining and scratching at the door, so the -fever had not quite mastered him. There was -his rifle, “the Tempest,” leaning against the -wall. It had the same flashing steel trigger -as always, and he saw the elk’s head which -he himself had carved on the butt. These -could not be mere visions. He was quite in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> -his senses, and there <i>was</i> an elk down there on -the bog.</p> - -<p>He threw off the sheepskin rugs, stepped -out of the bed, leaning on the bedpost. He was -no longer the Lynx, the man of muscles and -sinews—no, he was a staggering uncertain -thing, bereft of his strength. His head -throbbed as if a thousand little animals were -trying to break out through his skull. His -chest was too small, and he drew in air in -short laboured gasps....</p> - -<p>Gaupa somehow managed to get across the -floor and seize “the Tempest.” How delightfully -cool the steel felt to his hot palms!</p> - -<p>After a while he reached the window and -stared out. The elk remained immovable, -looking northwards towards the Big Bear -which unceasingly runs along its azure path -in the sky.</p> - -<p>Then Gaupa pushed the muzzle of his gun -straight through the window-pane. A crisp -clang of breaking glass followed, some pieces -falling on the window-sill, others on the -floor.</p> - -<p>Dead silence reigned in the hut once more. -The dog stood erect beside the man, his ears<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> -cocked, trembling with excitement, waiting for -the shot.</p> - -<p>Gaupa crouched, his knees bent, his chin -pressed against the butt. How nice and cool -it felt! He took aim, and when his eye -caught the shining sight on the muzzle a calm -relief seemed to fill his body, killing the -fever....</p> - -<p>Rauten stood down there. What was that -he heard in the moonlight? The sound -immediately begot a picture in his brain. -He saw and heard an icicle breaking from a -precipice and falling down on to the glacier -below. It was broken to pieces and shattered -with a shrill clang.... It was the sound of -the falling window-pane.</p> - -<p>Up in the hut Gaupa took aim. First his -aim sought the starry flowers in the sky. Then -it sank past the multitude of stars, sank lower -and lower, crossed the mountain slope, skirted -the lake, stole along the bog, fumbled for the -elk’s antlers and found them. There it rested -awhile, only to glide downwards along the -dark body, stopped again, and remained.</p> - -<p>Gaupa’s forefinger crooked. His eyelids -did not move, nor did Bjönn’s.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-085.jpg" width="400" height="562" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span></p> -<p> </p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span></p> - -<p>Rauten was listening all the time for that -icicle. Then a hot pang in his left shoulder -startled him, but the sensation was drowned -in a roar of thunder which broke upon the -stillness of the night. The elk stretched out -and lay flat in the air, touched the earth, and -stretched out in the air again. Moonlight -streamed between the tines of his antlers when -he ran, each leap double the length of his own -body. He was chasing a mad shadow in front -of him, chasing it into the forest which -swallowed shadow and elk alike.</p> - -<p>Shortly afterwards something splashed in a -lake to the north, and the water spouted white -before Rauten where he started to swim. He -swam across the lakelet, swam across molten -silver. On the farther side he rose, dripping, -and ran on.</p> - -<p class="pch">§ 10</p> - -<p>Gaupa lay in bed once more. The hut was -filled with nauseating fumes from the powder, -and Bjönn ran from window to door and back -again. Finally he stopped at the door, nose -to the chink, scenting the draught.</p> - -<p>Gaupa knew what elk that was. It had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> -incredibly large shovel-shaped antlers, like -Rauten was said to have. Few elks in these -parts have shovel-shaped antlers nowadays. -Undoubtedly it was Rauten. Lead could not -wound him, and he had vanished through the -moonlight when the shot rang out, like one -possessed.</p> - -<p>After a time Bjönn lay down before the -door. Once more silence reigned. But to -Gaupa it was as if he and Bjönn were not alone -in the hut. A breath of wind came down the -chimney, and to Gaupa’s ear it was as if something -breathed. The silence afterwards was -filled with that strange murmuring which -comes from nowhere and everywhere. Was it -the voices of the dead returning? It sounded -like a faint whisper, always the same intonation, -always alike. The whisper grew into -words: “Beast, beast, beast....”</p> - -<p>Even the hills round that hut bore marks of -Ré Valley Swede’s pickaxe, deep holes, mossgrown -by now. Did he hear steps outside? -Two stealthy steps at long intervals? No, -surely not. Bjönn would have barked if there -had been real steps.</p> - -<p>And lying there with his eyes shut, Gaupa<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> -recalled many strange things which had been -told in Lower Valley during those last years.</p> - -<p>One day the cow-boy at Lyhussæter came -running home struggling to regain his breath. -The dairy maid stood agape. At the same -time Martin Lyhus scrambled up with his -packhorse, and he heard the nonsense the boy -had to tell.</p> - -<p>“An elk bull has mounted our 'Drople’!” -he says.</p> - -<p>Martin tied his horse to the fence.</p> - -<p>“What ails ye, lad? Don’t you come here -to grown-up folks with child’s talk. What -you say has neither rhyme nor reason.”</p> - -<p>“But it’s gospel truth,” the boy maintained, -and Martin noticed that he was purple with -running.</p> - -<p>“That elk had antlers as big as never was,” -says the boy.</p> - -<p>The outcome was that Martin went with -him. They found “Drople” not far off, but -no elk bull, only to the farmer’s eye the cow -looked strangely shamefaced. He also found -elk spoors, so evidently the lad had spoken -the truth. But that spoor was Rauten’s, for -Martin recognised it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span></p> - -<p>Now, as the dairymaid knew, “Drople” -had been ready for play, but strange to say she -did not seem to care for a strange bull which -happened to come near their mountain farm.</p> - -<p>Nine months later “Drople” was kicking -and raving in the Lyhus cowshed in the -Valley and she could not give birth to her calf. -The dairymaid went in and woke up Martin -Lyhus. Her white kerchief gleamed in the -light of her cowshed lantern, the ends hanging -under her chin like long ears, when shaking -her head she declared that the farmer himself -had better come out and take that calf. He -wasn’t no real cattle crittur,’ that he was not, -for “Drople” had mated with that wizard -devil’s beast in Ré Mountain. Now she could -not drop her calf.</p> - -<p>Well, Martin went out, but for all he strove -and laboured he could not bring that calf. -Then he fetched Tolleiv Skoro, who was -something of a vet. And Tolleiv bit his -tongue, as he always did when treating cattle, -and he worked and worked till that calf lay -beside “Drople” in the straw.</p> - -<p>But what a miracle of a calf! Mercy -upon us!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span></p> - -<p>Its legs were half as long again as they should -have been, its colour was dark, snout long -like an elk’s, and there was next to no tail!</p> - -<p>The dairymaid trampled across the shed in -her dirty boots.</p> - -<p>“Martin,” she said, “you look into its -eyes.”</p> - -<p>Martin did not see anything remarkable in -the calf’s eyes.</p> - -<p>“You kill him as soon as ever morning -comes,” said the woman. “I won’t handle no -crittur with eyes like human beings.”</p> - -<p>They killed the calf and buried it.</p> - -<p>“Such foolish womenfolks,” Martin Lyhus -pooh-poohed; but he had to give in; for his -wife was at one with the maid in the matter, -and you know the ways of womenfolks....</p> - -<p>Only that was not the end of it all.</p> - -<p>“Drople’s” milk had such a queer taste -that no one in all Lyhus farm would drink it. -They could only use it for cheese and such-like, -and the next autumn the skin of “Drople” -hung inside out on the back wall of the barn.</p> - -<p>Something else happened the summer after -“Drople” was killed. It was at the Lyhus -Mountain farm, which lies in a wooded valley<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> -west of Ré Valley, and elks used to live there -in summer.</p> - -<p>One night the dairymaid saw a head in the -forest, half a human head and half an elk’s -head it was, poking out from a closely grown -spruce tree. She saw nothing else but the head, -nobody, only a tremendous pair of antlers.</p> - -<p>The head stared at her and did not move, -only stared. She felt as if she were standing -in icy-cold water up to the chin. She whispered -the name of Jesus towards the head and -then took to her heels towards the hut, mumbling -bits of the catechism while she ran, from -the Ten Commandments to the Creed, and -she was half dead when at length she was safe -in the hut.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter?” asked the farmer’s -wife.</p> - -<p>The maid was silent. She sat down and -said nothing.</p> - -<p>“Dear me, what ails thee?” the housewife -asked again.</p> - -<p>“I am too scared to tell.”</p> - -<p>“Scared?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, it’s more like blaspheming, it is. I -saw a deer’s head round by Grey Hill.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span></p> - -<p>Anne Lyhus had rolled up her sleeves. She -was at work salting and kneading a lump of -butter.</p> - -<p>“Haven’t you seen a deer’s head before -this?” she asked.</p> - -<p>“Yes, but that deer’s head had eyes like a -human being. And worst of all I recognised -them!”</p> - -<p>Anne gasped.</p> - -<p>“Recognised them?”</p> - -<p>“‘Twas the eyes of the Swede. If it’s my -last words on earth. I swear they were the -eyes of the Ré Valley Swede!”</p> - -<p class="pch">§ 11</p> - -<p>The moonlight had reached Gaupa in the -hut. Bjönn jumped up to him in bed, nosed -his head and licked his hair, tail wagging. -Gaupa stroked Bjönn’s head.</p> - -<p>“Poor doggie mine,” he whispered. The -dog lay down beside him, but with raised head, -and stared through the window across the -marshes.</p> - -<p>In a little while the bed started falling over. -The bed turned over and Gaupa turned over<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> -against the table. It felt as if the bed was -trying to throw him out and get rid of him, -and he grabbed the skins with both hands, -holding on as tight as tight. He had never -felt such a sensation before.</p> - -<p>There now, he was level again—how delightful! -The bed calmed down; but what a -number of lakes and brooks there were in that -square of moonlight on the floor! A flood of -little brooklets.... And then the bed began -to tilt again, it turned upside down, and Gaupa -clenched his fists, holding on for dear life till -the perspiration ran down his skull.</p> - -<p>Day dawned. Gaupa was talking to himself -with eyes closed, while the stars vanished one -by one.</p> - -<p>On the brink of the precipice towards the -Ré Valley stood Rauten.</p> - -<p>He could feel that gadfly constantly -stinging in his left shoulder. He nosed the -place, but only found the hole where the -gadfly had crept in. His skin bled from the -bite of that gadfly which bit into him, when -the thunder roared, over near Morsæter. What -a strange gadfly!</p> - -<p>But that gadfly was lying close by a bone,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> -on the shoulder-blade. It was hard and thick -and flat. Once it had lived inside the barrel -of Gaupa’s rifle, but the night had been so -bright and it had flown out into the moonlight.</p> - -<p>Another day came into being.</p> - -<p>The man abed in the mountain hut cried -out aloud again and again, “Bjönn!” he -called, and each time the dog crept up to lick -the man’s face.</p> - -<p>About noon a wind arose, blowing somewhat -hard. The broken pane rattled and there was -a draught in the room. The wind falling -down the chimney played a little with some -fine cobweb under a beam in the roof and -escaped through the window again.</p> - -<p>The wind blew hard and then calmed down, -blew hard and calmed down once more, and -between each gust the hut only seemed to wait -for the next.</p> - -<p>Suddenly there was a sharp noise in the lock -of the door and Bjönn jumped down from the -bed, barking. But the door swung on its -hinges, and made a yawning gulf out towards -the sunlight outside. Probably the wind did -it, or was it the forewarning spirit of a man -following behind? Several hours passed and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> -no man entered, so it could not have been a -spirit after all.</p> - -<p>And there was another night and another -day.</p> - -<p>Outside Bjönn wailed to the heavens, while -the wind thrashed the forest till it waved like -a dark green sea.</p> - -<p>After a while the dog trotted eastwards along -the path by the lake. He grew smaller as the -distance increased, he trotted steadily along -the beaten path. When there was a dip or a -mound he disappeared, to dive up again soon -afterwards, but finally there was no reappearance.</p> - -<p>Then Gaupa was quite alone in the mountain -hut.</p> - -<p>Only he was not there at all. Suddenly he -had entered strange underground passages -where breathing was difficult and which were -so narrow that he could scarcely move. He lay -flat, he tried to bend his knees and sit up on -his haunches, but the place was too narrow. -Then he attempted to pull himself forward -on his stomach, tried with all his might, for -soon there would be no more air in there. It -was half dark and he could not find his way<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> -out. The passage was crooked like a fox’s -lair, with no beginning and no end. He -crawled forward in mad terror, lest he should -never find a way out.</p> - -<p>Then suddenly a shot rang out there, and -all was blank.</p> - -<p>After a while he crawled again, crawled—crawled -to find a way out which he could not -see.</p> - -<p class="pch">§ 12</p> - -<p>Bjönn trotted down the path to Spænde -Lake. Here and there yellow and brownish -leaves were in his path, and when he trampled -them they rustled like a fire of twigs.</p> - -<p>Where the slopes began to fall steeply -towards Lower Valley, a wood-cutter stood -beside a marked spruce. At the height of a -man’s head a strip of bark had been flayed off -so that bare flesh of the tree could be seen. -The strip of bark hung down like a long -tongue; one might imagine the tree putting -its tongue out at the forester.</p> - -<p>But the wielder of an axe is not one to defy! -“Bang!” said the tree trunk, when the lightning -steel cut a chip from its body.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span></p> - -<p>The strokes of the axe sounded even and -regular from the forest; they might almost -be the pulse of the woods.</p> - -<p>Bjönn stopped a little to the west, listening. -The sounds reminded him of something and -called up a picture of Gaupa outside Lynx -Hut cutting firewood, bending and straightening -his body as the axe was lifted and fell. -The stroke of axe and human beings go -together, Bjönn knew that. Over there in -that woodland slope there must be people.</p> - -<p>Soon afterwards the wood-cutter heard the -heather whispering behind him. His axe -was still in the middle of a branch, and he -turned his face bearded with a week-old -stubble.</p> - -<p>He saw a dog standing there, looking at -him, wagging his tail, and saying as plainly -as anything:</p> - -<p>“Good day to you. I see you are cutting -timber.”</p> - -<p>“That is the deer-hound belonging to -Gaupa,” the wood-cutter thought, for everybody -knew Bjönn just as everybody knew the -parson or the sheriff. Bjönn was an elk -hunter by the grace of God; he provided long<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> -elk hams for their store-rooms and long elk -antlers over their doors. Yes indeed, everybody -knew Bjönn.</p> - -<p>“Is that you, Bjönn?” the wood-cutter said -softly; he left his axe and went up to the dog -to stroke him with a hand sticky with resin.</p> - -<p>But the dog behaved very strangely—just -like a puppy. He jumped off as if in play, -made a leap and stopped to look backwards at -the forester. He wagged his tail a little as -puppies do when they want to play.</p> - -<p>“You’re a funny dog,” the wood-cutter -thought.</p> - -<p>The dog made several leaps, looked backwards, -asking the forester to follow him. But -that wood-cutter had only a tiny space in his -head where his wits lived, barely space enough -to contain the idea of timber, axes, pork, and -coffee. Therefore he understood nothing at -all of what the dog wished to say, and started -cutting timber again. An enormous spruce -fell down, a giant of the forest which stood at -his post and fell there like a faithful veteran.</p> - -<p>Bjönn waited. The man cut off a slice of -bread and gave it to him. Bjönn wolfed it -down. He would have liked more for sure,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> -but the wood-cutter could not afford it, for -a man who fetches his living from between -the bark and the wood does not readily throw -away good food into a dog’s mouth.</p> - -<p>Bjönn waited. He wanted the man to go -with him to the Morsæter Hut. It was not as -it should be that his master remained in bed -day after day without moving, and without -getting up.</p> - -<p>“You be off and find your master,” said the -wood-cutter, making as if to chase him with -one arm. “You go along after Sjur.”</p> - -<p>Bjönn only cocked his ears and remained.</p> - -<p>“Fool,” said the man; “changeling,” he -said.</p> - -<p>Evening came, and the man met two of his -mates at their hut. Bjönn was still with him, -and they soon agreed that he must have lost -his way, and God only knew where his master -was.</p> - -<p>Then the wood-cutter told the others of the -dog’s strange behaviour when he first arrived. -One of the men, who had much beard, many -years and much experience, said thoughtfully:</p> - -<p>“It can’t be possible that something wrong -has happened to Gaupa?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Certainly not,” the first one replied. “No -wrong’d ever befall Gaupa, he who is for ever -making his bed under the nearest tree. Gaupa -can look after himself, no doubt about that.”</p> - -<p>Bjönn had been sitting still near the door, -but then he scratched to get out. The door -was opened and fastened again. Pork spluttered -in a pan, a kettleful of coffee boiled over -and vomited at the spout.</p> - -<p class="pch">§ 13</p> - -<p>Bjönn trotted westwards again. The wind -had calmed down, and in the sky above a low -ridge God had lit a tiny star.</p> - -<p>In a brief hour Bjönn entered the fence at -Morsæter.</p> - -<p>The door of the hut had been thrown back -and was only slightly ajar. A narrow grey -nozzle entered the gap, and Bjönn stepped in. -Breathing was coming from the bed.</p> - -<p>The dog jumped up and crawled lazily -forwards to the sack of provisions which formed -the sick man’s pillow. Gaupa was uncovered, -lying on his back fully clothed, his beard -streaming over his chest.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span></p> - -<p>He was conscious now, and clearly recalled -how he shot the elk in the moonlight, but how -long ago that was he did not know. Time -was blurred in his mind. Anything not -connected with the elk he could not recollect.</p> - -<p>There was Bjönn. The dog placed a cool -wet nozzle against his chin. He saw that the -door was open and remembered seeing him -enter, and the thought begot the idea that -sooner or later the dog would seek people, and -the important thing would then be that he -should carry something which would take a -message to anyone he met.</p> - -<p>After some reflections he loosened his watchchain -from his waistcoat and tied it round the -dog’s collar.</p> - -<p>Was it morning or evening, dawn or gloaming? -It might be either, but after a time the -darkening dusk, which came like something -soft and fleecy, convinced him that night was -advancing.</p> - -<p>What about that shot at the elk?...</p> - -<p>Perhaps he had struck the beast somewhere -in the body. It was impossible to say, for the -deer might well run as it did even if it were hit. -Perhaps he struck the belly, and Gaupa’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> -imagination clearly pictured how that bullet -would tear the intestines until their contents -would run out like a thick butter. The elk -would run with a flaming fire inside—Gaupa -could almost feel it inside himself.</p> - -<p>He wondered at himself for his pity—it was -more like a woman than like him, Gaupa, who -never before had cared whether he only -wounded an elk or killed it. But now a -curious tenderness invaded his whole being, -and the bare thought of a wound gave him -pain, downright physical pain. Most distinctly -of all he could feel the possibility of a -hit in the lungs—if the elk could no longer -draw a full breath, but had to gasp for air. -The lungs filled with something that stopped -breath and blurred sight. The nose began -dripping blood—the elk would be choked....</p> - -<p>And Gaupa thought that if he went out -alive from that mountain hut he would never -more be careless where he sent a bullet into an -animal. Either he would be sure that his -shot could kill, or he would not shoot.</p> - -<p>He was fully conscious throughout the -evening.</p> - -<p>Those eyes came back to him, as he had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> -seen them off and on during later years, when -dreaming or half asleep.</p> - -<p>He saw a forest at dusk, it may be one -summer evening. Everything was asleep -about him, but over there amongst the spruce -something was alive, two moist, brownish, -living spots side by side. And in another -direction he also saw two living eyes, and he -knew them. They were the eyes of dead elks -shot years ago, calves bereft of their mothers. -Such eyes looked at him from behind every -tree and every bush; they blamed him and -accused him, the elk souls from the land of -shades.</p> - -<p>A trembling fear assailed him; he turned -and turned to get away from the staring glances -which caught his own irresistibly. He ran -with feet like lead that would not move; but -the eyes were everywhere, they seemed to -move, staring till madness entered his soul.</p> - -<p>Then he noticed two unlike the others. -They were deer’s eyes and yet they were not. -They were the ones he had met eight years -before on the slopes of Black Mountain. Then -he threw himself forward, his face in his hands.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span></p> - -<p class="pch">§ 14</p> - -<p>The next day the farmer Halstein at Rust in -Lower Valley saw Bjönn, the dog from Lynx -Hut, trotting towards the farm. The dog -came into the passage and scratched at the -door. Halstein opened, and noticed that the -dog was soaking wet. Big wet marks on the -floor showed where he placed his paws. He -had probably swum across the river.</p> - -<p>What was hanging on the dog’s collar?</p> - -<p>Halstein loosened the well-worn brass chain, -looked at it, and said to his wife:</p> - -<p>“This chain belongs to old Gaupa. I’m -thinking something must have happened to -him.”</p> - -<p>Halstein had often followed both Bjönn and -his master in the forest, and that was why the -dog fetched him for help. The dog behaved -exactly as he did with the wood-cutter the day -before, running from the door to Halstein and -back again.</p> - -<p>“Well, well, I’m coming sure,” said Halstein, -packing his sack. He took his gun from -the beam in the roof, and the two walked -quickly across the meadow. When he reached -the bank of the river the dog jumped first into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> -the boat, and on the other side they were -swallowed up by the forest.</p> - -<p>The man and the dog walked for hours, -along narrow forest paths, across murmuring -brooklets, and through birch bush. Bjönn -never wavered, he was going back on his own -tracks, and he never walked so far as to be out -of Halstein’s sight.</p> - -<p>All the time Halstein was wondering what -might be the matter with Gaupa. Perhaps -he had had an accident, broken a leg.... -As far as he knew Gaupa was on the Buvas -Slopes a week before, and since then nothing -had been heard of him.</p> - -<p>The man and the dog walked on, not towards -Ré Valley, but farther east. Once they -crossed a mountain ridge and stood with their -feet on earth and their body in the clear sky. -Then again they descended into a narrow -valley. Morsæter Lake regarded them like a -bright blue eye. They came to a dense copse -of healthy young trees, as is usually the case -near mountain summer farms, and then they -were at their goal. They saw a hut with a -brown mossy roof and a cowshed with bright, -new-shingled roof.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span></p> - -<p>Halstein Rust stopped outside the door. -Bjönn forced his way in, leaving the door ajar. -Where Halstein stood in the sun he could see -nothing of the interior of the hut, it being -darker in there, and he was blinded by the -sunlight. He heard Bjönn’s steps on the -floor, but no sound of man. Why did not -Gaupa say something? Surely he must have -heard them both coming.</p> - -<p>He cleared his throat and struck his iron-shod -heel against a stone with a loud noise, -but not a whisper came from the hut. He -noticed a thin, worn-out horseshoe lying on -the ground before him, and a bunch of fir -twigs which the dairymaid had made to scrub -her wooden milk-pans with last summer. He -hesitated to enter, with the same icy feeling -which seized him when about to enter barns -and other outlying houses where corpses were -laid out....</p> - -<p>Then he cleared his throat once more, -decisively this time as if driving away an -uncanny feeling. He walked to the door with -the long, fine steps of the forester, the latch -clattered, and he stood before a bed with a -man on it. It was Gaupa. Gaupa was alive.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Good day to you,” said Halstein, half -astonished with a question in his voice, as if -he had not expected to find Gaupa there. -“Are you in bed?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“I’ve been sick,” Gaupa replied.</p> - -<p>Soon afterwards smoke curled up from the -chimney, and Halstein Rust carried a wooden -pail to the well, north of the pasture. When -he returned Gaupa had something ready, -which had occupied his thoughts while the -other was away.</p> - -<p>“The first thing you must do when you go -home,” he said, “is to send a message to Christopher -Hovtun, that there is the flesh of an -elk bull awaiting him near the little bog under -Bog Hill.”</p> - -<p>Halstein could not keep back a smile.</p> - -<p>“What about a doctor? Would he not be -almost as important?”</p> - -<p>That same day he returned perspiring to -Lower Valley, harnessed his mouse-grey mare -in his carriole and drove away northwards -through the valley, his stiff, black, Sunday-best -hat on his head. And that same night a -man with starched linen, spectacles, and thin -white hands was riding along the forest paths<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> -towards Morsæter. The moon hung in the -heavens like a yellow lantern lighting his -path, while the farmer’s boy from Rust followed -him.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-109.jpg" width="400" height="433" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<p>When they reached the hut they heard a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> -deep bark from within. The doctor descended -stiffly from the saddle, and it was quite -ridiculous to see that from town-habit he -knocked at the door before entering.</p> - -<p>For three weeks afterwards there was smoke -curling up from the Morsæter chimney every -day. One day in the fourth week Gaupa and -Bjönn stood at the door of Lynx Hut. Gaupa -was sickly pale.</p> - -<p>But farthest out in Ré Valley where the -round head of Ré Mountain seems to bend -forwards to look down into the valley, Rauten -stood in a marshy place still feeling that nasty -gadfly which bit his shoulder. He could not -reach it with his tongue, and could only lick -the hole where it had crawled under the skin. -He did not get rid of that gadfly until winter -gleamed on the mountain peaks and Gaupa’s -lead bullet was surrounded by a covering of -tissue.</p> - -<p class="pch">§ 15</p> - -<p>Gaupa was not his old self all that winter.</p> - -<p>He stayed indoors making shoes, and felt -cold if he went out. His body seemed to have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> -become open so as to let in the wind and the -cold.</p> - -<p>But he recovered when spring came. He -resembled a strong tree. A wound is covered -with resin and the tree is whole again. The -same thing happened to Gaupa. Slowly but -surely weakness grew out of him. And by the -next autumn any number of old footwear lay -under his bed awaiting his treatment. But -Gaupa had no time for work. His short, -muscle-hardened legs were trotting over ridges -and far horizons.</p> - -<p>That autumn neither he nor any others -learned any news of Rauten, and not even the -spoor was seen of the wizard elk. Very likely -he had gone to some other forests.</p> - -<p>Let me see now—did anything worth recording -happen to Gaupa?</p> - -<p>Yes, he shot an elk bull on a prohibited -ground. If the thing had been made known -it would have resulted in a thumping big fine; -and as Gaupa had nothing with which to pay -a fine, it would have meant prison instead. -Therefore he did a very sensible thing. He -cut off one of the elk’s legs at the knee, then -went outside the preserve and made a beautifully<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> -clear elk spoor all up to where his elk lay. -Then he fetched people and said:</p> - -<p>“Here ye are, folks. There is the spoor. -I was raising him outside the preserve, and -then he ran away in there where he lies.”</p> - -<p>Well, the men saw what there was to see. -The elk had been raised outside, though lying -in the preserve. That was clear enough. The -spoor was sufficient evidence as good as a -sworn witness. The men bit off a screw of -twist and would have sworn ever afterwards -on their souls that Gaupa raised the elk on -lawful ground. The man who owned the -forest had half the meat, as is the custom. The -sheriff had some of it for his Christmas dinner, -and proposed the health of Sjur Renna whom -people called Gaupa, the sprightliest man in -the forest who fetched such dainty food from -the wilderness.</p> - -<p>Well, it was no unusual thing. Elk hunters -have a special catechism, with the ninth commandment -left out, the one about bearing false -witness. But when Gaupa skipped that commandment -he made an extra special churchy -face, as candidly innocent as if his good conscience -was covering it externally.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span></p> - -<p>That winter an elk fell through the ice in -Lower River, a league or so to the south. -Four men helped him out again with great -difficulty. That deer had half an ear, and -ran off to the western slopes, having come -from the east.</p> - -<p>The following autumn Gaupa received a -letter. It was brought to him specially by a -little boy from Rust who had no other errand.</p> - -<p>“I was sent with a letter for you,” he said.</p> - -<p>“A letter?” Gaupa could scarcely have -been more surprised if one morning the sun -had risen in the west and had crossed the sky -backwards. A letter? A letter for Gaupa?</p> - -<p>He put down the fat pork he was eating, -wiped his hand on his trousers, and took the -letter as gingerly as if afraid it would burn his -fingers.</p> - -<p>The envelope bore some printed letters as -distinct and black as those in the Prayer Book: -“H. Braaten & Co., Drammen.” Below he -read “Mr. Sjur Renden, Lower Valley.” -But that was in pen-and-ink writing.</p> - -<p>Gaupa opened the letter with his sheath -knife much as he would cut open the skin of -an elk’s belly. The rustling white paper in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> -his hands for once brought home to his mind -the fact that his hands were extremely dirty. -The paper seemed too nice for them to touch. -Even that bore the printed inscription “H. -Braaten & Co., Drammen,” and below: -“<i>Wholesale Hardware</i>,” which two words he -did not understand in the least. The handwriting -did not look like what he had learnt at -school, round and readable. That before him -was nothing but straight lines and broken ones -crowded close together. And what a man he -must be at handling a pen, he who wrote it! -The words raced across the paper like gusts of -wind, and below a whirling curl stood by -itself; Gaupa guessed it was meant for -“Braathe.” He went off at once to find the -schoolmaster and have the letter read aloud. -By himself he could only puzzle out a few -words here and there, like “elk,” “Ré -Valley,” “superstition,” and “Yours truly.”</p> - -<p>H. Braaten & Co. was a man from Lower -Valley who had turned genteel. He hailed -from a croft called Vermin Camp, and left -home as soon as he was out of school. He sat -on a loaded trading cart when he left, and the -whole outfit reeked of well-matured old cheese.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span></p> - -<p>But when he returned!...</p> - -<p>He arrived in a hired carriage with a hood -on it, and he brought a wife whom they called -Mrs. Braathe, and who talked town language. -And there was so much gold in his teeth that -when he laughed his mouth was like an entire -sunrise.... That grand gentleman was Hans -from Vermin Camp who left the district on a -sledgeful of old cheese.</p> - -<p>The schoolmaster first took two or three -readings of the letter, his lips forming the words -but not his tongue. Then he read aloud:</p> - -<div class="pbq"> - -<p class="p1">“<span class="smcap">Mr. Sjur Renden</span>,</p> - -<p class="pm4">“From my good friend up there I -learn that there runs in the woods a -remarkable elk, which no forest-men can -manage to kill. Of course a great deal -of superstition is connected with the -animal, the dalesmen of Lower Valley -being presumably as superstitious now as -when I was a child. Lower Valley is on -the outskirts of civilisation. But if you, -who are, as I have heard, the greatest -hunter in those parts, would consent to -guide me on a trip after the mysterious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> -elk, you would give great pleasure to an -old acquaintance. I long for Ré Valley.</p> - -<p class="pi6">“Please send me an answer.</p> -<p class="pi8">“With kind regards,</p> -<p class="pi10">“Yours truly,</p> -<p class="pi12">“<span class="smcap">H. Braathe</span>.”</p></div> - -<p class="p1">The schoolmaster folded up the letter looking -as if he had accomplished a great deed, -something that no one else in all the valley -could manage.</p> - -<p>“You’ll answer for me, won’t you?” said -Gaupa. “You’ll say he can come?”</p> - -<p>And going home to Lynx Hut he felt himself -greater than before. A gentleman from -Branæs had sent him a letter, saying it would -be a pleasure to have his company. The last -“Yours truly” sounded so full of respect and -so courteous that one might think it had been -written in mockery.</p> - -<p class="pch">§ 16</p> - -<p>One day Mr. Braathe knocked at the door -of Lynx Hut. Gaupa was at home, but did -not answer. What did that knocking mean? -After another knock he went to open the door.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p> - -<p>Mr. Braathe was a long lath of a man, who -seemed to have been pulled too hard length-ways -and grown too narrow. Everything -about him hung loosely—his cheeks, shoulders, -even his clothes. He was as shrivelled up as -a bat.</p> - -<p>“Please sit down on the bed,” said Gaupa; -“there are no more lice there than the fleas -have managed to eat.”</p> - -<p>That was a joke he usually quoted to -strangers, but this time he swore to himself the -moment he had said it. The man before him -hailed from Vermin Camp, and might think -the words an allusion to his past.</p> - -<p>But Mr. Braathe kept smiling, and asked -Gaupa to call him plain Hans just as in the old -days.</p> - -<p>That same evening they stood on the slope -above Tolleiv Mountain Farm in Ré Valley. -Bjönn was not with them, because Hans did -not want him, and in Gaupa’s opinion even -a dog could not avail when he was hunting -Rauten.</p> - -<p>If Gaupa had nursed any ideas about the -townsman being worth but little, he was -mistaken. Gaupa walked quickly all day, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> -Hans kept up with him, and there was not a -sign of perspiration about him. Once he -took out from his bag a strange instrument, a -short trumpet of birch-bark with a kind of -mouthpiece at one end.</p> - -<p>Hans was a much-travelled man. He once -saw nothing for nights and days but sea and -sky. He had smelt the smoke from Red Men’s -camp fires. While he spoke, Gaupa grew -silent and his eyes sought the far distance. -He was not there in a boggy hollow on the -Ré Valley slopes. He followed this tall man -through endless woods on the other side of the -earth, in a country which to Gaupa’s mind had -always been more dream than reality. They -seemed to be under a tree, and beside them -crouched a copper-coloured Indian with burning -eyes. He had a similar birch-bark trumpet -in his hand. The wilds of Canada spread -out under the clouds. It was early morning. -Somewhere a beaver splashed into a calm -pool. Farther away a duck was heard.</p> - -<p>Then the Red Indian, their guide, moved -his moccasins with infinite care, turned -towards the rosy dawn over the earth in the -east and lifted the birch-bark trumpet to his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> -mouth. At first he only breathed into it as if -to warm it. It was a cold autumn morning, -as silent as death, except for the occasional -splash of the beaver....</p> - -<p>The Red Indian lowered his instrument, -raised it again, and out of it floated the mating -call of an elk, loud and living, luring and -treacherous.</p> - -<p>Hans arose, saying that that night they -would lure the wizard elk. The birch-bark -instrument had accompanied him in the wilds -of Canada, and more than one crowned head -had been turned by it. It would be a strange -thing indeed if Rauten were not fooled also.... -All that talk about the Ré Valley Swede -was the most arrant nonsense, he declared.</p> - -<p>Gaupa did not care to show himself superstitious -to his companion, for superstition was -old-fashioned amongst the genteel. Therefore -he guessed that Rauten was an elk like other -elks. He ate grass, mated with the cows in the -autumn, and when he died he would die like -a he goat. No restless spirit would fly out of -his nostrils.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span></p> - -<p class="pch">§ 17</p> - -<p>It was the following night.</p> - -<p>On the slopes of Black Mountain Rauten -stood on a rock, listening, his ears waving -alternately backwards and forwards. His -beard hung stiff and awe-inspiring. He was -listening for a cow. They usually can be -heard at dusk during mating time.</p> - -<p>The weather was not quite calm. A darkish -cloud sailed slowly above Black Mountain. -Just below him in the river there were mild -rapids and the water bubbled incessantly -against the rocks like a boiling kettle.</p> - -<p>Farther up the slope Hans and Gaupa sat -under a spruce tree, the lower branches of -which touched the earth. They sat as if in -a tent, on soft reindeer moss, hardly daring to -move. Hans produced a flask, and Gaupa -poured the golden brandy down his throat -without a word. Little by little the forest -grew veiled. Over the east mountains daylight -faded away, the roar of Ré River seemed -incessant and more wide awake than ever. The -sound was uneven, which meant that there -was movement in the air. That was bad luck.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span></p> - -<p>Hans bent towards Gaupa. “I wonder if we -shall have an answer to-night,” he whispered.</p> - -<p>“This is the best elk ground in all Ré Valley,” -Gaupa whispered back.</p> - -<p>Then once more they sat as still as stones, -and Gaupa felt the brandy on his tongue for -a long time.</p> - -<p>The night before they had tried the trumpet -trick, but no bull answered them.</p> - -<p>That afternoon they found Rauten’s spoor -just below where they were then sitting. A -young pine showed white spots on its bark -and several branches were broken.</p> - -<p>There the wizard elk had rubbed his -antlers; the marks were so fresh, perhaps only -made that day.</p> - -<p>As darkness came on, Gaupa’s excitement -grew. Hearing seemed to fill every part of -his body. He was nothing but ears....</p> - -<p>Hans regarded this strange being beside him. -Gaupa’s face was so very short, with next to -no chin, and that is rare, for surely energetic -people generally have strong chins. Now -and then he jerked his head sharply and -suddenly, as if he heard something that made -him jump every once in a while. Then Hans<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> -saw Gaupa smile, and a smile had not been -seen on Gaupa’s face all that trip. He was -smiling, a strange, stiff-lipped smile, and -turning to Hans he asked:</p> - -<p>“D’you hear him?”</p> - -<p>Hans had not heard a sound. But Gaupa’s -keen ear had caught a sound so faint as scarcely -to be one at all—the mating cry of a bull elk. -The sound seemed to come from below and -from the north. Silence reigned around them -once more. Gipsy Lake had a silvery streak -along its eastern banks. It was the reflection -of the northern sky.</p> - -<p>Hans carefully pressed the birch-bark -mouthpiece against his lips, stuck the other -end out through the pine branches, and blew. -The call of a cow elk rang out: “Come, -come.”</p> - -<p>Then all was silence.</p> - -<p>A quarter of an hour later Hans once more -lifted his instrument.... He stopped, -startled.</p> - -<p>Immediately to the north, silhouetted -against the bright sky in the opening of the -valley, an elk bull stood on a mountain ridge. -Hans could see the sky between its legs and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> -also two ears and enormous, shovel-shaped -antlers.</p> - -<p>The elk did not move, and stood out like -a statue against the sky above the valley.</p> - -<p>Gaupa cocked his gun. “Rauten,” he -whispered, and it sounded like a sob. He -had seen the mutilated ear. At that moment -the bull stepped down from the ridge, straight -towards them, and darkness hid him from their -view.</p> - -<p>Then they heard “Örrke—örrk,” a kind -of nasal grunt, approaching nearer and nearer. -A dry twig cracked, and in the clearing a pine -stump shimmered with a greyish gleam. The -roar from Ré River seemed far distant, as if -withdrawn, but suddenly it sounded close again, -the forest gave a sigh, and Gaupa saw a lichen -tuft move slightly just above Hans’s head.</p> - -<p>Then the noise of the elk ceased as if suddenly -cut off. There was not a sound. The -minutes crawled past. There was still silence.</p> - -<p>Gaupa turned.</p> - -<p>“Weathered!” he whispered.</p> - -<p>But Rauten trotted northwards along the -edge of the long Ré marshes hour after hour. -He had heard the luring call of a cow, went to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> -meet her, and found man. What a strange -thing to happen!... And Rauten ran on. -It is bad to be where man is.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-124.jpg" width="250" height="469" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<p class="pch">§ 18</p> - -<p>It was the same autumn, later on in September, -one night at Lynx Hut.</p> - -<p>Bjönn was asleep on the bed. “The Tempest” -hung on the wall. A wooden box, converted, -formed Gaupa’s cobbler’s workshop.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> -A tiny paraffin lamp gave him a sleepy light -for the work he had in hand, mending a shoe. -On the box awls, plugs, tacks, waxed thread, -and heel irons were heaped together, for -Gaupa was very far from being a tidy man.</p> - -<p>The patch finished, he pulled out from -under the bed a violin case, took out his -instrument and turned it round in his hands -as softly as if caressing it. Then he lifted it -to his chin and made a stroke to test the tuning, -but when he touched the tenor and bass -strings the violin sang so sadly, sweetly, and -wildly at the same time, just the tune that will -sometimes rise up out of black, hidden river-filled -gullies. The violin was tuned for magic.</p> - -<p>A lively country dance leaped from the -strings. Bjönn woke up and opened his eyes, -but shut them again. A few dying embers -glowed red through the draught-hole in the -stove, and when Gaupa had finished and sat in -deep reflection the sound of a watch ticking -filled the silence. It was getting on for one -o’clock in the morning, but that was Gaupa’s -most wide-awake hour.</p> - -<p>Steps were heard outside, and Bjönn barked. -“Whisht,” said Gaupa. There was a knock,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> -Gaupa unlocked his door, which as it happened -he had locked that night.</p> - -<p>“Evening,” said somebody in the dark.</p> - -<p>“Evening,” Gaupa replied; “are you out -walking so late?”</p> - -<p>Hans Holmen stood outside, exactly in the -line between darkness and the yellow lamplight -from within. His coat was unbuttoned and a -nickel watchchain gleamed across his waistcoat. -He carried a fishing-rod over one shoulder, -and Gaupa saw the white top move softly in -the dark.</p> - -<p>“Oh,” said Hans Holmen again, “it’s early -rather than late. It is just about one o’clock.”</p> - -<p>Gaupa waited. Full well he knew that -Hans must have a very special reason for -coming in the night like that.</p> - -<p>Then Hans began to relate how he was -fishing along the river. There was a dense -thicket of bushes growing along the bank -and he was well hidden. While he was baiting -his hook an enormous animal came out of the -undergrowth just to the south of him. At -first he thought it was a horse, and wondered -why it had no bell, and besides it was not quite -the shape of a horse either. When the animal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> -waded out into the river he saw it against the -sky-line and recognised it as an elk of unusual -size.</p> - -<p>Hans Holmen went close up to Gaupa. He -lowered his voice as if telling a secret.</p> - -<p>“‘Twas the wizard elk I saw,” he said; “I -saw the mark of your knife.”</p> - -<p>He waited.</p> - -<p>“Well,” he summed up the situation, “I -thought I’d better tell you, when I saw the -light in your window. That elk waded across -the river and went up the other side, so now -you know where to find his spoor.”</p> - -<p>Hans Holmen left, and Gaupa closed the -door. He remained for some seconds staring -down on the floor, standing in his shirt and -trousers.</p> - -<p>But out on the high road Hans Holmen went -straight homewards and not towards the river.</p> - -<p>In Lynx Hut the petroleum lamp was still -burning. Gaupa went to and fro slowly, -busy as usual. He baked potato flap-jacks on -his stove, filled the wooden butter cup, and -made ready for a tramp with his knapsack, -Bjönn, and “The Tempest.”</p> - -<p>About three o’clock he went to the corner<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> -cupboard, and after some fumbling produced -an old-fashioned leather purse. Out of it he -took a slightly flattened lead bullet, as big as a -small potato, dirty, knobby, and rough.</p> - -<p>That bullet had a name, for it was called the -Swede’s Bullet. Gaupa’s father was a soldier -at Matrand in 1814, and he shot a Swede who -was standing against a tree-trunk. The bullet -went straight through him and into the bole -of the tree. Afterwards his father picked out -that bullet, and ever since the family had -regarded it as a priceless possession.</p> - -<p>It could heal wounds and cure illness as well -as any doctor. Gaupa never forgot the old -crofter who had an ulcer in his leg. Gaupa -went to him with the Swede’s Bullet and -stroked the leg with it in a circle round the -ulcer. From that day the ulcer stopped -spreading; it could not pass outside the circle -where the Swede’s bullet had touched the skin.</p> - -<p>But then Gaupa reflected whether he should -sacrifice the priceless lump of lead and melt it -into a bullet for Rauten.</p> - -<p>Rauten, being no ordinary elk, could probably -not be killed by ordinary bullets. All the -old people believed that there are many animals<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> -which demand a special ammunition if you -want to shoot them.</p> - -<p>But should he really give up the Swede’s bullet?</p> - -<p>If it could assist him to kill the wizard elk, -the whole district would look upon him as a -great man. He would be famous in the valley, -and the fact would not easily be forgotten that -he was the man who killed Rauten.</p> - -<p>For many years he had avoided the beast. -For to be quite honest he had to admit that -bad luck followed the one who hunted it. -Why was he so ill when he shot at the wizard -elk at Morsæter? They saw the spoor and -knew what animal it was which he saw like a -vision in the moonlight.</p> - -<p>But while he was conscious of his childish -fear of Rauten, he always felt a tantalising -desire to see the end of him, to kill him, and -cart that enormous body down into the Lower -Valley, to exhibit it to the dalesmen and listen -to their comments.</p> - -<p>Oh what a day that would be! The small -boys would gaze at him and Bjönn in deep -admiration not unmingled with fear, and the -old women would shake their heads knowingly -and predict disaster to him....</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span></p> - -<p>The Swede’s bullet weighed heavily in his -hand, heavier than ordinary lead. Unknown -forces were imprisoned in the metal, and it must -not go out of the family’s possession. But Gaupa -had no relatives in the Valley. He was an only -child, his parents were dead, all his other kinsmen -had gone away across the Blue Atlantic. -When he died the Swede’s bullet would be homeless, -so to speak, and that ought not to happen.</p> - -<p>Gaupa decided to melt down the Swede’s -Bullet.</p> - -<p>He made a big fire in the stove under a -kind of small pan in which he usually melted -his lead. He gazed very earnestly at the -Swede’s bullet as it lost form and flattened -down until at last it was one big drop of lead -in the pan, glittering like a flame, as mysterious -as a mountain lake under the moon.</p> - -<p>Suddenly Bjönn, who lay upon the bed, -grew restless. He looked up at his master, -whimpering softly. What on earth was the -matter with the dog? “Quiet!” said Gaupa.</p> - -<p>Bjönn rolled himself up again, head under -tail. But when Gaupa poured the molten lead -into the bullet mould, the dog once more -raised his head and whined.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span></p> - -<p>How strange! Was the dog ill? Perhaps -it was rheumatism. For Bjönn was growing -old. He had the pale-blue eyes and the -dimmed pupils which indicate age. But he -was fairly brisk as yet. What was it he carried -on like that for?</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-131.jpg" width="400" height="206" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<p>Gaupa went up to the dog and stroked his -head. Bjönn flattened his ears as a sign of -content and calmed down.</p> - -<p>The lead had cooled, and Gaupa took out -the bullet, fresh and shiny. But it was not -like other bullets. It had killed once; it -knew its way, and wherever this bullet hit the -elk’s body, death would radiate from it as if -from a poisoned arrow. Heaven have mercy -upon Rauten!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span></p> - -<p>Bjönn again raised his head, whimpering, -when Gaupa placed the bullet in the cartridge.</p> - -<p>It was four o’clock in the morning. He -extinguished the lamp and crept to bed beside -Bjönn. Now and then he opened his eyes to -look for dawn through the window.</p> - -<p class="pch">§ 19</p> - -<p>That morning an elk bull lay quietly at the -upper end of Owl Glen. It was Rauten. He -had come from the other side of the valley -from the eastern mountains. A dog with a -terrible voice in his throat had chased him for -half a day, and at last Rauten had swum across -Lower Valley River.</p> - -<p>But he wanted to go back to Ré Valley, for -that was his home. There for months peace -reigned in the woods until it entered his own -shaggy body and made him at one with the -deep silence of the mountains.</p> - -<p>Peace was the depth of his nature. He -wanted to see, unseen. He liked to stand at -the edge of the bogs, looking at the capercailzie -hen with all her brood. He liked to see the -ever-frightened hare nibbling the grass undisturbed. -That was peace, and each day<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> -offered fresh joys, however old—a feed of -juicy grass not yet withered in some marshy -place, a few waterlilies in a mountain lakelet. -For him life was food, sleep, and rest, and then -feeding again. Life was light and darkness, -sun and rain, heat and cold.</p> - -<p>He slept at all times of day and night, but -as lightly as if even in his sleep all the tiny -sounds of the wilderness reached his consciousness. -They floated about his ears, and -the least unusual crackling let them all into -his brain at once, and he was wide awake.</p> - -<p>Rauten lived on his instinct—that is, on the -experiences accumulated by countless generations -through all ages and in all countries. -Experiences had glided into him as murmuring -brooklets run into the sea.</p> - -<p>When he ran towards the wind, and not -before it, it was because he had to do so. When -he ran away from the scent of man, elks long -since dead whispered soundless warnings in -his ears. The fear of man was a seed which -had been growing since the first arrow flew -twirling and singing into the shoulder of an -elk and caused life to ebb out of it.</p> - -<p>Rauten was lying in Owl Glen this grey<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> -morning, with the sleepy murmur from Lower -River before him, and a tiny trickle of water -over the rocks beside him. That little trickle -was a tiny life. A drop fell, and there was an -attentive silence, then another drop splashed. -Higher up in the glen an owl sat immovable, -big sprouts of feather sprouting from the head, -yellow eyes staring blindly at the daylight, -her beak still bloody after the night’s hunting.</p> - -<p>Far below Gaupa was following an elk’s -spoor, breathing heavily. He held Bjönn on -the leash, and the dog nosed the earth as if -seeking something. Once in a while he would -snort and tug hard, straight into the mountain, -into Owl Glen.</p> - -<p>The glen was narrow, with walls of rock -on either side, the mountain ash glowing in -autumnal glory, and the bracken turning gold. -A hawk flew out with a cry, and the sound -echoed backwards and forwards from rock to -rock, growing into a strong volume of sound, -like a loud call in empty space.</p> - -<p>The man and the dog crawled upwards. -Suddenly Bjönn threw up his head. He had -caught the open scent, and Gaupa unfastened -the dog’s collar, quietly and carefully.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span></p> - -<p>When the foresters lie in their huts on long -winter evenings they often tell of Gaupa and -Bjönn and the wizard elk.</p> - -<p>The old men amongst them still remember -from their boyhood the wild chase which -began that morning in Owl Glen, and lasted -one day, two days, three days. The end came -on the night of the third day.</p> - -<p>Rauten lay peacefully in Owl Glen, his ears -on the alert, one cocked forwards and the other -backwards.</p> - -<p>Then he started up from his lair, and ran. -The wakeful conscience of the woods had been -disturbed. A small pebble loosened and fell -clattering downwards, a black deer-hound with -a grey nose and grey legs ran out from amongst -the scrub, the elk bull turned tail, and strode -westwards on his long legs. That was the -beginning. Down in Lower Valley the parlour -clocks struck seven, and the chimneys -gave forth light smoke into the grey morning.</p> - -<p>A little later a man stood where the two had -left, staring into the west.</p> - -<p>He opened his mouth as if to inhale something -from the air. He placed his hand behind -his ear, inclining his head, his mouth always<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> -open. His eyes were far away from the world -about him. They looked at the earth, but in -the far distance.</p> - -<p>The hills swam westwards towards the naked -bulk of Ré Mountain, wave upon wave in long, -easy swell.</p> - -<p>Two animals were running towards Ré -Mountain, a big one in front, a smaller one -after. They were fighting over the distance -between them, at times increasing and -then again diminishing. The elk ploughed -through the undergrowth with his long, heavy -body, his antlers swishing through the green -pine needles, his legs clip-clapping evenly and -surely. When he lifted them his hoofs touched -with a sound like dry sticks beating each -other. Once in a while an antler would bang -heavily against a tree-trunk.</p> - -<p>Rauten kept up a steady, even trot; his -flight was unhurried and unafraid, as was in -keeping with the greatest beast in the forest, -the strongest and wildest of elks, between -valley and mountain. He ran because somehow -it seemed wise, not because he was afraid. -His nozzle was raised almost horizontally and -his antlers lay along his back.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span></p> - -<p>Bjönn ran after him. His tongue had grown -too long—protruding out of his mouth, his -eyes were wild, and the earth burnt his paws, -which barely touched the ground only to fly -up again. He divided up the distance in -lightning leaps. Pine needles clung to his -fur, and the shaggy body of the dog flew -along like some enormous insect.</p> - -<p>Gaupa was forgotten in the dog’s mind, -all men were forgotten. He went back -thousands of years when the wolves howled -along elk spoors in Ré Valley. He was one of -them, a dog which no man’s hand had caressed, -and no man’s eyes had subdued.</p> - -<p>Those grey, fleeting elk legs in front of him -called up a bloodthirsty song in his sinews. -Passion howled within him, and off and on -when he gained on the elk his throat howled -out. It was not Bjönn from Lynx Hut, it was -the voice of dead wolves returning.</p> - -<p>His nose no longer sought the earth, he ran -through a thick reek of scent. Every breath -filled his nostrils with the maddening smell of -game, and everything about him seemed to -run. Red pine trunks ran to meet him and -Rauten, spruce trees crawled forward, jumping<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> -across the marshes. They were left behind, -but fresh ones came again and again and again.</p> - -<p>Gaupa lifted his head. His eyes returned -from the far distance and sought a certain -point on the western slopes, a spruce-clad -hillock where the silver birches blazed like a -flame, and there his gazed fixed. From that -hillock came a sound, sudden and unexpected, -like a spark from a fire of thorns.</p> - -<p>“Wow!” It was a dog’s voice, clear and -strained, let out of a throat which had quite -enough to do with mere breathing.</p> - -<p>The voice on the hillock spoke no more.</p> - -<p>Gaupa remained in Owl Glen. He did not -hurry. He wanted to be quite sure where -Rauten was going, and from his post he could -hear half a league away.</p> - -<p>A short time afterwards Bjönn barked from -the same place, deep-voiced and growling, as -a watch-dog barks at strangers. Rauten was -at bay!</p> - -<p>“Wow! Wow! Wow!”</p> - -<p>Then Gaupa began to run, his gun in his -hand, its muzzle glaring black, and inside -there was a cartridge with the Swede’s Bullet.</p> - -<p>Gaupa was hidden in the forest, but appeared<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> -again on a hillock farther on, stopped -listening as he pushed back his lucky cap. -Then he was submerged in the greenery once -more.</p> - -<p>The dog’s voice to the west was the only -token of life on the slopes, breaking the silence -incessantly at short, regular intervals like the -ticking of a grandfather’s clock.</p> - -<p>Bjönn was barking at some close-grown -spruce copse. It looked as if he were talking to -it, again and again without receiving any answer.</p> - -<p>In there amongst the spruce bushes some -thin, grey tree trunks seemed to move once in -a while. They were the elk’s legs. Some -rough boughs with brown bark, just like a -small bush, moved amongst the spruce needles. -They were the elk’s antlers.</p> - -<p>Rauten stood there. Apparently he was -not very much concerned about the dog. He -turned his head here and there, as if he had a -suspicion of something intangible yet dangerous -in the forest around him.</p> - -<p>Whenever Rauten met that tiny, shaggy, -barking animal, which smelt of man, the -forest seemed to become unsafe for him, wherever -he went. Perhaps it was a reminiscence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> -from that autumn when his mother fell north -of Black Mountain, when she blew a golden -dust out of her nostrils and moved no more. -Ever since that day he had the same feeling -when he met a dog. Something alive was -close to him, something he could not see, but -which he knew was there all the same. From -every tree, from every copse something spied -upon him; fear threatened from them all....</p> - -<p>He felt it then, as he drew his breath after -the long run from Owl Glen. He did not -catch the scent of Gaupa over there, or he would -not have stopped so soon.</p> - -<p>“Wow! Wow!”</p> - -<p>At each bark Bjönn threw up his nozzle, -half closing his eyes, his ears flattened backwards -and teeth gleaming. Then he looked -at Rauten a little and barked a little again, -somewhat quietly, as if to convince Rauten -that he was not dangerous at all. He was only -out for a friendly chat....</p> - -<p>Suddenly the spruce copse vomited a long -grey figure, and Rauten’s fore-feet stood -where Bjönn had been but was no longer, for -Bjönn knew his business and needed no time -to get out of the way.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Wow! Wow!”</p> - -<p>Once more there was nothing but those -restless grey tree trunks and those brownish-grey -living branches in the undergrowth.</p> - -<p>But then Bjönn was once more the dog he -really was, the dog from Lynx Hut, a beast -who took his food from Gaupa’s hand.</p> - -<p>As he regarded the elk’s rough throat until -he imagined it between his own teeth, he -remembered the throats of other elks, which -Gaupa used to cut open so that Bjönn could -drink the blood. That happened quite often -when the deer were standing still among the -copses, and the idea made Bjönn look round -expectantly. Gaupa ought to come and -make thunder about him, the elk ought to -stagger, fall on one side, and remain on the -earth. “Wow! Wow!”</p> - -<p>But Rauten had come to the conclusion that -the thing which disconcerted him was something -very real, which made dry twigs crackle, -and so he ran on again. Bjönn whimpered -with disappointment and followed him. The -steady barking ceased.</p> - -<p>Beads of sweat appeared on Gaupa’s bald -head as he ran. When he heard how the elk<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> -had broken away he swore softly, being wholly -and entirely out of breath.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-142.jpg" width="250" height="478" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<p class="pch">§ 20</p> - -<p>It was late in the day when the snow began -to fall.</p> - -<p>The first snowflake came alone, thin and -light as down.</p> - -<p>The flake could not keep its equilibrium,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> -but flew here and there aimlessly, and took its -own time about settling down on earth. It -had been on earth before, swimming in the -white marsh mist one raw morning in the -autumn. Afterwards it had lived where the -clouds live, but now it came down again and -settled on an aspen leaf, white on red, the first -snow of winter.</p> - -<p>Little by little the air filled with innumerable -white butterflies, floating down from the -heavens, a gift from God to earth and man, -falling, falling.</p> - -<p>On the Tolleivsæter Mountain which falls -off steeply towards Ré Valley two animals -were crawling, one larger, the other small. -The first was Rauten, the other was Bjönn.</p> - -<p>They followed a narrow gully in the mountain, -a chasm which meandered downwards -first to the north, then southwards, and then -north again. It was no more than a narrow -ledge in the mountain where the animals -walked. They were hanging at the edge of -an abyss and far below the bottom of the -valley made a dark shadow in the white whirl.</p> - -<p>Rauten led the way, and there was no longer -anything long and clumsy about him now.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> -His feet felt each step, carefully seeking a foothold. -The knee-joints bent with a little noise, -once in a while his hoofs slid a little and scraped -the grey reindeer moss.</p> - -<p>After him went Bjönn, crouching and -frightened, without a sound. They were -climbing between earth and heaven, but the snowflakes -danced past them into the abyss, and Ré -River was heard faintly somewhere far below.</p> - -<p>Thus the elk and the dog went on, slowly, -slowly. Once they passed some large black -holes among the rocks, and then both Rauten -and Bjönn felt very uncomfortable. Rauten -stopped, his nostrils dilated and eyes ablaze, -Bjönn lowered his tail and sniffed towards -the rocks, his muzzle quivering, for the animal -after which he was named had been in there -recently to seek for a winter lair.</p> - -<p>After a long time the elk and the dog reached -the foot of the mountain. Rauten tore through -the birch bushes, and the dog’s voice woke up -again. They came to a deep gully—two rocky -precipices and between them water boiling -into foam far below.... Rauten leapt twice -his own length. He flew through the air -before he reached earth once more, and ran on.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> -Bjönn made a detour, found a short cut, and -when Rauten sprang into Ré River he was -not alone. Two splashes were heard from the -river, one for the elk and one for the dog, and -they ran on straight up the western slope, -Bjönn now and then giving vent to short barks.</p> - -<p>After a while Gaupa reached the eastern -slope. He was like a well-wrung rag. His cap -was in his pocket now, his hair was plastered -to his skull, his eyes were red and strained, like -those of one who has kept awake many nights. -His mouth was gaping open, the muscles of -his jaws being too tired to keep it shut.</p> - -<p>He stopped to regain his breath. What time -could it be? Nearly two. He thought as -much. Six, seven hours had passed since -Bjönn had begun driving the wizard elk. -Gaupa had heard the song from the dog’s -throat many times that day, east and west. -He had been north and south, God only -knows exactly where he had been, running and -walking. He had stopped at all the well-known -elk stations, but Rauten had passed -them all, for he did not run like other elks. -And now it was two hours since Gaupa had -last heard Bjönn.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span></p> - -<p>Gaupa laid his hand behind his ear as he -had done that morning in Owl Glen. He -tried to hold his breath so that it should not -drown the slightest sound in the silence of Ré -Valley. He seemed to listen for a message -from the snowflakes, but the flakes bore no -message. They were like a whirling swarm -of silent butterflies. Only when he turned -his back to the weather, the flying atoms -battered on his knapsack with a barely audible -sound as from elfin artillery.</p> - -<p>He sat down. The mountains about him -were changing their colour, growing white. -The weather lightened a little and the earth -was revealed, far, far away. He saw Gipsy -Lake straight below, pitch black amongst the -whiteness.</p> - -<p>Hark!</p> - -<p>Out of the north-west came a sound, the -bark of an almost exhausted dog, a slight break -in the silence. Gaupa lifted his head; his -entire face, framed in dark beard, stiffened -with excitement.</p> - -<p>Was that Bjönn? Yes it was! He saw the -mountain ridges west of the valley and followed -their outlines northwards, as they rose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> -and sank, wave upon wave towards the sky. -And farthest north two specks grew out of their -white slopes, one larger than the other. First -they grew in size, then they rapidly diminished, -and at last they vanished altogether.</p> - -<p>Bjönn and Rauten had gone into the western -mountains. Well, Gaupa had better follow -them.</p> - -<p>He found a descent not far from where he -stood, and went at a jog-trot across the marshes -around Gipsy Lake.</p> - -<p>Then came the western slope, a sky-high -precipice difficult to ascend. The minutes -crawled slowly, as evening shadows pass over -the fields. And Gaupa crept slowly upwards.</p> - -<p>Once or twice he lay down on his back, face -upturned. A few snowflakes settled on his -skin. They felt like a wet tongue licking him, -pleasantly cool. He gathered a little snow -from the heather about him, placing it against -his hot head, enjoying the coolness of it.</p> - -<p>Then he rose and went on his way. A dry -branch hooked on to his trousers and made a -big rent in them. He heard the brooks grow -strangely mute; their voices were no longer -natural, and when close at hand they sounded<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> -far off. And in his ears there rang a song, -thin and high like the buzzing of a gnat.</p> - -<p>Oh to lie down and rest, rest a long, long -time.... Nonsense, Bjönn and Rauten had -gone westwards, and Gaupa had better follow -them.</p> - -<p>In an hour he reached the barren mountain, -the naked bulk of which stretched before him. -About a league to the west was another valley, -Three Valley. Gaupa knew that an elk would -occasionally go there when fleeing from a -hound. It had happened often to himself and -Bjönn. Probably Rauten had gone that way too.</p> - -<p>But he had to rest before descending. He -took out food from his knapsack and tried to -eat, only his mouth was so dry that it was like -biting sawdust. There seemed to be no -moisture left in his mouth.</p> - -<p>Ever since the chase began Gaupa had not -rightly considered the fact that Bjönn was -following no ordinary elk. Mystical ideas do -not generally go with laboured running in -broad daylight.</p> - -<p>Then his brain was so strangely empty and -weak. He felt as if the power of reasoning -had been sweated out of him. His head<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> -seemed full of mist, out of which the ideas -could not find their way. They worked at -the things nearest and immediate, with the -spoors and the chase.</p> - -<p>But he knew that Rauten would have great -difficulty in leaving Bjönn that day. Bjönn -was well-rested, his paws hardened and -muscles as tough as pemmican—very devil -of a rugged deer-hound ready to follow an elk -to Hallingdal—or even to the valley beyond -that.</p> - -<p>Gaupa jogged along west once more. He -felt better after his rest, and he began to think. -The people of the valley had given him a -nickname, Gaupa, the Lynx, although by -rights his name was Sjur Renden, as could -be seen on his baptismal certificate as well as -on his assessment—and they called his hut -Lynx Hut, although the correct name was -“Elvely” (River Shelter). Christened so by -the parson who happened to pass by when -they were building it.</p> - -<p>But if they had given him a nickname like -that, by hell, they should be made to respect -it and to recognise the fact that he did honour -to the name, for he would show them that he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> -was a Lynx who could go on when other men -failed. He would chase him into hottest hell, -that elk with the enormous antlers and the -restless soul of the Swede. And when he, -Gaupa, returned to Lower Valley, clothes in -rags and hands bloody, the news would spread -like wildfire that Rauten was killed, shot -somewhere in the western mountains towards -Hallingdal—driven out of Owl Glen at -seven in the morning—and the man who shot -him was no other than Gaupa—of course.</p> - -<p>And even the papers would print the fact: -“The well-known hunter Sjur Renden....”</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-150.jpg" width="400" height="123" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<p>Thoughts slipped away again, as fatigue -filled his body once more after the rest his -brain held nothing but mist, mist. But somewhere -in his consciousness one thing remained -hard and fast, the thing that said, “Run, run, -for God’s sake run.” Such was the will of -Gaupa, the slayer of elks.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span></p> - -<p class="pch">§ 21</p> - -<p>In the Three Valley a dog had opened full -cry, a glorious cry, for his quarry was standing -still.</p> - -<p>Rauten stood still because he was so tired -that he had to. During the last run earth -seemed unstable beneath him, and wherever -he went he saw a lair before him, full of peace -and quiet; he might go to rest under that -spruce, or there—and there. Only he could -not get rid of that eternal worrying by a big -black fox that followed him like his own -meaningless shadow. He had tried everything—climbing -mountains, jumping across gullies, -but the dog followed him with an endless -succession of angry barks.</p> - -<p>In the course of all those hours those barks -had become no more than a habit to the ear; -they did not feel like real terror any more, -only a slight fear, a subconsciousness of danger. -But Rauten was at length compelled to rest -now, standing in a spruce copse in Three -Valley.</p> - -<p>Bjönn was there, lying down. The dog also -was nearly spent. His legs seemed to have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> -disappeared of late, and when they ran it was -from innate habit.</p> - -<p>Several times he had crossed the spoors of -Gaupa. The earth threw up the familiar -scent into his nostrils, like a message from his -master to say that he was there, only “Go on!” -And Bjönn went on, he was going for ever -now.</p> - -<p>His hair was soaking wet; both he and the -elk were steaming like fast-running horses in -cold weather. The snow lay on the heather -like white wool, a frozen bilberry stood up -from it, a reminiscence of summer in the midst -of winter. Two pine trunks rose tall, straight, -and copper-red behind both the animals.</p> - -<p>“Wow! Wow!” said Bjönn. There was -an interval between each bark, and his voice -was so hoarse as hardly to be recognised. He -snatched a mouthful of snow now and then, -for his thirst. “Wow!”</p> - -<p>Both animals felt themselves stiffening after -they stopped. Rauten had a broad gash across -one of his thighs made by a dry branch. -There was reproach in his eyes as they regarded -the little animal before him, whom he had -never hurt and who would not let him be in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> -peace. But rest, rest, that was all, the only -thing.... Rauten stood still.</p> - -<p>In the meanwhile Gaupa was hurrying westwards -towards Three Valley. His footfall -made no sound in the snow, as if he were running -on soft moss. He jogged along, walked -at times, eating snow.</p> - -<p>He found the spoors of the dog and elk, -indistinct but unmistakable: long lines across a -tuft of wiregrass from the elk hoofs, and close by -them clear marks of Bjönn’s paws. He followed -the spoors with childish joy, lost them, found -them again, and made straight for Three Valley.</p> - -<p>All idea of time had long since left him. -Only the mountain seemed endless. The -snow continued to fall, and the ever-falling -white flakes made him dizzy. At last he saw -a tall, narrow rock on a ridge before him, a -rock exactly like a tall chimney, that he knew -to be on the slope towards Three Valley.</p> - -<p>He was soon there. The earth sank before -him, the valley could be seen—thin forest on -the slopes, long marshes with a sleepy river, -a large lake, a white summer pasture with a -couple of dark houses, far away near the bend -of the valley.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span></p> - -<p>A pang of joy rang through Gaupa, vivifying -and exciting, for a dog’s bark floated out -in the grey air straight below him from the -slope.</p> - -<p>More barks followed; the whole valley filled -with the song of it. Gaupa wondered at the -sound. “Poor old dog, he has gone hoarse,” -thought he. But what a dog! He was an -animal without blemish, no dog like him. He -would soon have assistance, warm drink, a -taste of warm meat....</p> - -<p>Gaupa slipped down the wooded slopes -quickly and carefully. Just down there, just -down there, he thought time after time. Ten -minutes, five minutes more, and the Swede’s -Bullet should fly unseen from the muzzle of -“The Tempest.”</p> - -<p>The next day he would return to Lower -Valley, clothes in rags, with bloody hands. -And Martin Lyhus would have to take his -pipe out of his mouth to ask, staring in -astonishment:</p> - -<p>“What is it you say? Have you shot him?”</p> - -<p>Gaupa stopped to make sure of the movement -of the air.... He was in luck, it was -straight against him. He could see it in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> -flying snow. But it would soon clear up. -The flakes were restless, flying about like -gnats, not falling quietly. That was a sure -sign of approaching clear weather.</p> - -<p>Gaupa followed a small spruce-grown gully -in the slope, and just in front of him, very close -now, stood Bjönn holding the wizard elk in -check. To Gaupa stealing downwards, the -forest grew alive, every tree listened for the -dog’s barking, he felt as if on the point of discovering -a wonderful secret.</p> - -<p>He could not see the animals and heard only -one, though he knew there were two. He -stopped to look round for cover, and observed -something strange about his hands. He stood -petrified looking at them, he did not recognise -them as his own. They were trembling now, -however much he willed them not to do—trembling -in spite of himself.</p> - -<p>Then he felt a slight shiver in his whole -body, something he could not control—and -a cool feeling across the lower part of his body. -The hunter’s shivers! he thought.</p> - -<p>“Wow!” was heard from below, and then -a sudden silence. Gaupa held his breath, -waiting for the next bark. Surely he could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> -not have frightened him? The wind could -not have turned, taking his scent with it to -those sensitive nostrils?... Then the barking -started again, Rauten was still standing—like -a rock.</p> - -<p>Gaupa could not rid himself of this inexplicable -trembling, and he could not shoot while it -lasted. He was no longer the master of his -own body, he was not the real Gaupa any -more. The real Gaupa had never shivered -before an elk—the devil he hadn’t!</p> - -<p>Now he really had to be calm. For ten -hours dog and man had been hard at work. -At last they were at their goal, nearly near -enough to touch it, and his hand trembled; -he might make a false movement, and the goal -might once more dart away to unknown -distances.</p> - -<p>He knelt down, filled his hands with snow -and held it to his skull. It cooled first, then -felt too cold.</p> - -<p>Bjönn suddenly gave the angry bark which -tokened that his prey was escaping, the bark -so well known to Gaupa that the sound of it -raised anger within him....</p> - -<p>Escaped again!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-157.jpg" width="400" height="560" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span></p> -<p> </p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span></p> - -<p>Gaupa stayed kneeling while the thawing -snow ran in big drops down his head. His -dark-blue eyes changed colour. They were -lighter and glazed. His lucky cap was white -with snow; his gun lay in the hollow of his -arm, held tight to his breast—lay as if listening -like Gaupa himself.</p> - -<p>Silence. Dead silence. Running water somewhere -in Three Valley gave an echo of life.</p> - -<p>Gaupa rose. Silence. No barking then.</p> - -<p>He ran out of the hollow up to a bare ridge. -Then he heard Bjönn again and he understood -that the dog was running beside the elk, even -in front of him now and then. He could even -see the two animals on the long marshes at the -bottom of the valley. Rauten ran his jogging -even trot, long and tall, forever turning his -head from one side or the other as if listening. -“A hopeless range,” thought Gaupa. Distance -was simply mocking him. At such a range -he would not dare to risk the Swede’s Bullet.</p> - -<p>The elk crossed Three River and his legs -raised white arches of water. Bjönn swam and -was on the other side as soon as Rauten. They -disappeared, but were seen again, Rauten -heading straight for Three Lake.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span></p> - -<p>Gaupa threw back his rifle, breathed deeply -and went down the slope.</p> - -<p class="p2">Rauten and Bjönn came to Three Lake, -which lay black and still as night. A waterlily -leaf was riding on the surface at rest. The -whole lake was all peace, and the green heart-shaped -leaf in conjunction with the two animals, -the hunted and the hunter, formed as it were -a picture of the very life of the wilderness, -eternal peace of eternal time, painful efforts -of the moment, life or death.</p> - -<p>Rauten went straight into the lake, making -openings in its smooth surface with his hoofs, -cutting it with his thin legs where he waded -out quickly, the water rising along his -shoulders and flanks. A startled trout ran out -from under the bank like a shadow across the -white sand into the dark depths. Beside the -elk was Bjönn, swimming.</p> - -<p>The water gurgled higher and higher about -Rauten; at last he swam, his snout so low that -he ploughed through the water like a boat’s -keel. Bjönn scraped the elk’s back with one -paw, found no hold, and tried again. Then -he caught the mane with his teeth and soon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> -stood on the back of the wizard elk who was -swimming across Three Lake.</p> - -<p>The dog did not feel worn out then. He -was tasting the fiercest joy. Under him he -heard the laboured breath of Rauten, felt the -entire huge body trembling with effort, -muscles hardening and slackening as the elk -trod the water. It was Bjönn from Lynx Hut, -sailing! The elderly elk hunter from Lower -Valley who never gave up from dawn to dusk—even -to another dawn.</p> - -<p>Then he poured out his joy from his hoarse, -dry throat, and mingling with his song of -conquest came the groans from Rauten, who -was swimming, wild-eyed. He steered -towards a pine top on the farther side of the lake. -Terror sat on his back as he swam for his life. -Once he felt teeth in his back, and the same -icy shiver ran through him as ran through his -forefathers when they broke down in the snow -with the wolves swarming fiercely over them.</p> - -<p>Bjönn bent down and tugged a big tuft of -hair out of the elk’s back he dropped it on -the water, where it remained floating.</p> - -<p>“Wow! Wow!”</p> - -<p>He plucked out another tuft.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span></p> - -<p>One might say a raft was sailing along the -water, with Rauten’s horns for rowlocks.</p> - -<p>Bjönn noticed a tall tree-stump moving -across the marshes. It was Gaupa, his master, -and his pride knew no bounds. He could -conquer every elk from one mountain to the -other, if they were many times his own size. -He could drive them, bark exhaustion into -them, until at last he would drink his fill out -of their throats. “Wow! Wow! Wow!”</p> - -<p>Gaupa crouched on the marshes north of -Three Lake.</p> - -<p>He was in pain. The elk’s head and Bjönn -floated away farther and farther, and if he were -to shoot there was an even chance that he might -shoot his dog as easily as the elk. But when -Rauten went ashore he would try a shot, howover -hopeless.</p> - -<p>The Swede’s Bullet could not be risked -at such uncertain range, and therefore -he changed cartridges quickly. Then he -crouched in position for shooting, left elbow -on left knee. His cheek caressed the gun. -He sat immovable, a huntsman stiffened in -the last decisive movement of the hunt.</p> - -<p>He trembled no more, although the tension<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> -burnt in him like a hidden fire. He saw out -of the water a large body grow through the -falling snow.</p> - -<p>And one of Gaupa’s eyes shut as if sleepy. -The other, however, was open, and icy cold. -He did not breathe, his whole body was taut -calm. “The Tempest” roared, shooting out -its breath with a white handful of smoke, and -for a moment Gaupa’s ears were plugged up -with sound.</p> - -<p>But Rauten, who was wading ashore, heard -something like a woodpecker hammering at -a tree on the shore. Then came the roar of -the shot, behind him, and he stretched himself -off into the forest, a rain of waterdrops about -him. Bjönn followed.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-163.jpg" width="400" height="105" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<p class="pch">§ 22</p> - -<p>Gaupa pursued the chase once more.</p> - -<p>Dusk was falling. He did not hear Bjönn -any longer, but he had the spoor.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span></p> - -<p>The weather cleared up towards evening. -The sky seemed to absorb the snowflakes, -making them light and dry. The heavens -became fixed and formed a pale-yellow dome -over the earth.</p> - -<p>The silence increased after the shot and the -barking. A man followed a spoor in the new -snow, but Sjur Renden did not run any more. -He walked!</p> - -<p>His face showed signs of utter exhaustion. -The cheek, chin, and eyelids were hanging -down. His mouth, too, hung open, although -he did not breathe heavily. The corners of his -mouth were drawn into a grimace of contempt.</p> - -<p>The marshes were white, but the ground -under the trees was not covered with snow. -The woods had assumed an air of solemn -grandeur which was not diminished by the -oncoming dusk.</p> - -<p>Gaupa was fairly staggering. That last -effort near Three Lake seemed to have drained -his last forces. All the same he went on and -on, always showing that grin of contempt, -as if he were mocking at the elk spoor before -him.</p> - -<p>In the middle of an open space where the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> -pines had once been burnt down and never -grown up again to their former state, he -stroked his eyes with the back of his hand, as -people do when they wake up and yet are not -really awake.</p> - -<p>He walked on a few steps, stopped again and -touched his eyes. What devilry disturbed his -sight? He saw as clearly as clearly a shiny -yellow moon, not quite round, but slightly -elliptical as the moon is when she is on the -wane. This moon stood in the air a few gun-lengths -before his eyes and it moved when -he moved. It was so blazingly, glaringly -yellow that it made the air gleam yellow. -Gaupa felt as if everything glowed and blazed -before him. The very dusk flamed. He was -dazzled, and shut his eyes for a long time. -When he opened them again the air was as it -ought to be, soft and nearly dark. But after -a few steps that idiotic moon came back.</p> - -<p>He knew well enough what moon this was. -He had seen it before. Over-exertion, curse -it. And his knees felt as they always did when -that glaring yellow moon appeared. All the -sinews seemed to have been taken out of his -joints, all elasticity had left his legs. They<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> -moved about anyhow beneath him, without -his volition.</p> - -<p>Then Gaupa went under a spruce tree and -lay face downwards. His face touched some -whortleberry ling and he could smell the soil. -A bunch of berries caught his eyes, a large, -bright red bunch, and they made so intense -an impression on him that he seemed to feel -the juice seething inside them. Never in all -his life had he seen so red a bunch of whortleberries. -His eager hands seized them and -pushed them into his mouth. He crushed -them with his tongue and their juice ran in his -dry mouth, an exquisite joy. He looked for -more berries, crawling on all-fours round the -spruce tree like a child—an oldish man with a -flowing beard.</p> - -<p>While doing this he saw Bjönn coming, -keeping to the spoor, going backwards. The -dog gave up before reaching his master, and -lay down a little way off. He was utterly -exhausted.</p> - -<p>Gaupa went up to him, knelt down, talking -to him and stroking him. And it seemed to -him that those dog’s eyes spoke. Why had -he not come when Rauten stood still on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> -northern slopes? they asked. Why had he -missed when the wizard elk rose up from Three -Lake? Bjönn had done what he could, the -dog’s eyes declared. All the same Rauten -was running about in the valley, free, unwounded.</p> - -<p>Gaupa sat still, stroking Bjönn’s head.</p> - -<p>“I also could do no more,” he said aloud; -“but wait till to-morrow.”</p> - -<p>The weather cleared up as evening came on. -The sky turned blue as the sea, the stars twinkled -like tiny lanterns, some clear white, some -dullish red. In a small barn near Three River -Gaupa and Bjönn slept.</p> - -<p>Farthest out in the valley where the moon -was rising like a yellow lantern where earth -and sky met an elk stood for a long time -snuffing towards the north. He was dripping -wet. After a while he lay down, and the -snow thawed slowly under him.</p> - -<p>Thus Rauten lay all that night, his eyes -ever open, ears alive, nostrils working. -Towards morning it was so cold that his wet -back grew white with hoar-frost.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span></p> - -<p class="pch">§ 23</p> - -<p>About dawn Gaupa and Bjönn dug themselves -out from the hay in the barn.</p> - -<p>Gaupa had lost his matches the day before, -and could make no fire. The only way was -to bury himself in the contents of the barn.</p> - -<p>His shoes stood frozen stiff at the door. -They were so hard that it was out of the -question to put them on. He tried many -times, but in vain. To wait for the sun to -thaw them would take too long—so he thawed -them with the warmth of his own body. -They softened, and soon after he and Bjönn -were following the spoor of the wizard elk.</p> - -<p>They found his night lair where the snow -was thawed and some hairs lay about. But -Rauten had left several hours before, Gaupa -could read that much in the spoor. It had -hardened, there was a crust on, and also Bjönn -told him they were not near him yet.</p> - -<p>They chased the elk from sunrise to sunset.</p> - -<p>The spoors were there, and there was something -alive about them. Every mark of the -hoofs meant a movement forwards—one footmark -after the other from one slope to another, -an endless chase.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span></p> - -<p>The spoor, so strangely alive, kept Gaupa’s -interest warm. It was like turning leaf after -leaf of an exciting book where the end cannot -be guessed.</p> - -<p>Once they found fresh excrements after -Rauten, and Bjönn grew doubly eager after -smelling them. But Gaupa would not let go -until he was fairly sure of being near enough.</p> - -<p>He did not think much that day either of -the fact that he was hunting no ordinary -earthly animal; Rauten was only an elk who -had wandered for many years among Ré -Mountains, mocking all efforts on the part of -those who tried to get at him. He was the elk -that Gaupa himself had rather avoided. But -now he would measure himself against him. -As long as he had a bite of food, as long as -Bjönn could move, he would stick to that -spoor—and he swore loudly and forcibly.</p> - -<p>He went towards the west for several hours. -The weather was wonderfully fine. The -mountain plains in their majestic calm reflected -the sunlight like a mirror. The light dazzled -his eyes and made him sun-blind. Little black -lakelets looked like spots of ink on a white -tablecloth.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span></p> - -<p>Rauten had gone into a long lake, and -Gaupa found no spoors up from the water. -He went round the lake several times, but no -tracks could be seen.</p> - -<p>He reflected. Could this lakelet, without -even a name, be Rauten’s tomb? Could the -elk have been drowned out there? It seemed -impossible.</p> - -<p>He circled the lakelet once more, and in the -little brooklet which fed the lake he saw some -strange holes in the mud at the bottom. The -brook was shallow, and the sun showed him -the bottom quite plainly. Those holes down -there had a distance between them about as -long as the stride of an elk.</p> - -<p>He followed the brook for about a quarter -of an hour, and found the place where Rauten -had left the water. Gaupa had never seen an -elk try to hide his tracks so cunningly.</p> - -<p>About noon he went straight towards the -sun, ignorant of the names of the mountains -around him. Then the earth yawned before -him, and he perceived a valley so large and -deep that it must be Hallingdal.</p> - -<p>He heard also that the air was vibrant with -some sound, a dull, heavy roar with some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> -sort of rhythm in it. He could not understand -what it was. The wind shifted, and into his -ears poured the deep, full boom of church bells. -Once more the wind shifted, and he heard -nothing but that vibrating roar.</p> - -<p>Then he remembered that it was Sunday—for -ordinary people, but not for him. The -elk spoors led straight towards the valley and -the church bells—one might think Rauten -was going to church. But on a slope the -track turned abruptly, and there Gaupa smelt -the homely, acrid smell of smoke, the sign of -people and houses.</p> - -<p>He walked on after the smoke, sniffing his -way like a dog on an open scent. A little -later he stood before a low Hallingdal cottage -with a tall chimney. He touched the doorhandle; -Bjönn stole in in front of him, and -in a moment was chasing a cat, as red as a fox. -But cats made Bjönn mad. He threw one -paw over the animal, pinning her to the floor, -and then bit twice across her back. There -was the sound of crunching as when Bjönn ate -bones, and then a cat died in Hallingdal.</p> - -<p>They gave him matches and food, and he -walked uphill again. He released Bjönn,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> -who soon returned. Rauten was too far in -front of them.</p> - -<p>Dusk met Gaupa in a bare valley without -summer farms where he could spend the night. -His axe resounded in the silence as he cut -down dry pines. He slept in the shelter of a -rock, Bjönn clasped tightly to his breast.</p> - -<p>A few hundred yards from Gaupa’s night -lair something dark showed up on a ridge. -Was it a rock? No, the rocks were not black -then, they were white with snow.</p> - -<p>That dark thing did not move.</p> - -<p>After a while it did move. Two eyes -gleamed wet in the moonlight, a tined antler -crossed the harvest moon behind it. Rauten -was lying there.</p> - -<p>He thought he heard some strange sounds in -the evening, but there was little wind and he -could not make sure.</p> - -<p>He was waiting for daylight.</p> - -<p>The snow was glittering, the crystals of -snow were like innumerable stars which were -for ever being lit and extinguished. The -mountains were softly moving clouds, cradling -the tired body of Rauten, while a few isolated -mountain spruces, from which the sun had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> -thawed the snow, were like darkly dressed -dwarfs in the hollows.</p> - -<p>It was nearly two days and two nights since -Rauten left Owl Glen in Lower Valley.</p> - -<p class="pch">§ 24</p> - -<p>When Gaupa hung up his coffee-kettle over -the fire he felt shivery after his cold bed. The -kettle boiled, and he swallowed hastily four -or five cupfuls of scalding-hot coffee. Then -he noticed a strange pattern in the grounds at -the bottom of the empty cup. The lines were -funny, he thought, they made quite a picture.</p> - -<p>He turned the cup round and round, and -there was not much imagination needed to -make those brown lines mean an elk lying on -his back.</p> - -<p>Then Gaupa smiled to Bjönn.</p> - -<p>“We’ll have him before sundown. He -lies here.”</p> - -<p>A little later the fire under the rock wall was -deserted, and while it was dying slowly the -resinous smoke floated like a dark mist over -the neighbouring bog.</p> - -<p>Gaupa had not walked far when Bjönn rose -on his hind legs and caught the open scent.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> -He would not come down on all-fours for fear -of losing it, and went on hopping on two legs -several steps, and Gaupa swore prodigiously -out of the joy in his heart. He loosed the -leash, and let Bjönn storm into the mountains -towards the pale-yellow sky of the dawn, from -which a faint sheen fell on the snow.</p> - -<p>The snow was crisp now after the night’s -frost, and it crunched a little under each of -Bjönn’s steps. A family of grouse flew up like -a shower from some osier bushes, a cock grouse -called “gak-gak,” and soon after the dog sang -out farther east. Rauten had company once -more.</p> - -<p>Three hours later Gaupa was steaming with -sweat. He passed unknown summer farms -where the windows in the sun shone like fire. -It was warm, for summer was still in the air. -Winter lay on the ground prematurely born. -The trees were dripping, the snow grew wet -and heavy, crunching a little under Gaupa’s -shoes. A young hare sniffed the snow which -he had never seen till the day before, big -brown eyes staring with wonder at the -bewitched world.</p> - -<p>The chase went on—and it was evening.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span></p> - -<p class="pch">§ 25</p> - -<p>It was night, the third night since Rauten -left Owl Glen.</p> - -<p>He was lying in a brook in Ré Valley, on -Bog Hill where once he fought the three-year-old. -On all-fours he was lying in the brook, -the water unceasingly licking his stiff limbs, -and Rauten enjoyed the refreshing coolness. -Once he bent his head to drink, his flanks -hollowing.</p> - -<p>Before him on the bank of the brook lay -Bjönn. He did not say anything, having -barked enough throughout the day. It was -quite dark, the moon not yet being up and the -snow having been thawed on that sun-exposed -slope so that no light was reflected by the snow -either. Only the silver bark of a birch gleamed -faintly among the dense spruce woods.</p> - -<p>A good stone’s throw farther south on the -slope Gaupa sat, his back against a tree-trunk. -His pack lay at his side and his rifle across his -knees. Inside it rested a cartridge containing -the Swede’s Bullet.</p> - -<p>Gaupa felt exceedingly cold, for he was wet -with perspiration when he sat down, and now<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> -he felt as if he were wrapped up in icy-cold -sheets. He beat his arms across each other, -carefully so as not to make a noise, and sat on.</p> - -<p>In the dusk he had reached Black Mountain -and heard Bjönn baying on Bog Hill, but -darkness came before he reached him, and he -could not discern the sights of “The Tempest” -except against the sky.</p> - -<p>When he came to the spruce where he was -sitting now he heard Bjönn’s last bark, and -understood from it that the elk was not running, -for the barking sounded so feeble.</p> - -<p>Rauten and Bjönn were presumably somewhere -in that brook, and if he knew Bjönn -he would not leave the elk that night. But -when the sun rose over the eastern ridges and -lit up Ré Valley, then Gaupa would steal forth, -as soon as he could make sure where Rauten -was standing. The brook in the hollow murmured -unceasingly.</p> - -<p>Gaupa listened. No, he could not hear -that inexplicable muttering far away which -belonged to the night and the unbroken -silence. The brook deadened it. He felt -how the forest about him was asleep, standing, -eyes closed. All the same there <i>was</i> something,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> -that restlessness which has no origin. He -seemed to hear something breathing like a -human being somewhere.</p> - -<p>He remembered one incident after the other -told of the remarkable animal who was standing -unseen somewhere near him.</p> - -<p>There was Anton Rud. Last autumn he -was cutting resinous pine-stumps to distil tar, -far up Tolleivsæter way.</p> - -<p>One evening he kept on longer than usual, -and it was dusk when he walked slowly down -to the hut again.</p> - -<p>He stopped to light his pipe, when he heard -a cough below, a faint, dry cough, first once -and then twice running. He heard also the -noise of someone walking, and he sat down to -wait, for it sounded as if someone were coming -uphill.</p> - -<p>But nobody came, nor did he hear that -cough any more. He thought it strange, and -called out aloud asking whether there was -any human being.... No answer.</p> - -<p>In the morning he went up to the same place -to search the soil a little. He could not understand -that cough—it sounded exactly like a -consumptive coughing and clearing his throat.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> -There were no traces of a human being, but -he found elk spoors like Rauten’s, and he -stopped stump-cutting that selfsame day.</p> - -<p>Gaupa remembered that story and many -others.</p> - -<p>In the meanwhile Rauten and Bjönn remained -in the same spot in the hollow, the dog -looking steadily at the huge deer before him, -his nozzle rested on his forepaws, and he looked -like a long, narrow mound of grass or peat. -Off and on something moved on the mound; -Bjönn’s ears rose and lay down again.</p> - -<p>A big bird, an owl, flew noiselessly over the -forest, wings caressing the air.</p> - -<p>After a while Gaupa nodded drowsily as he -sat by the tree-trunk, but he felt so cold that -he was wide awake again in no time, and then -he heard somewhere a horse’s bell. He turned -his head here and there, and the horse’s bell -was to be heard from every direction. But -it was impossible that there should be a horse’s -bell at that time of the year; nobody put -bells on a horse in the summer. He happened -to take out his watch, and the horse bell -suddenly sounded much louder and nearer. -Then he understood that what he had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> -listening to was the tiny tink-tink of his own -watch. It was ten o’clock.</p> - -<p>A little later something trod softly in the -darkness—very softly. He turned and the -tread grew alive, became something tangible -which was Bjönn. The dog came close up to -him and laid his head on his master’s knee; -and Gaupa embraced him, whispering fond -words into his ear. Bjönn licked his master’s -face and he let him do so. Then he fed him -from his sack, gave him much food, whispering -and prattling with the beast all the time, telling -him that Bjönn must be a clever dog and hold -Rauten till either the moon or daylight -came, and then “The Tempest” should sing.</p> - -<p>But Bjönn did not stay long with Gaupa; -he wagged his tail a little, and trotted a few -steps away from him. Then he seemed to -remember something he had forgotten, went -back, sniffed Gaupa’s beard and pressed his -cold, wet nose close to his cheek. Then he -disappeared in the darkness; there was a -sound of rustling among the spruce branches, -and then the brook was once more the only -living thing Gaupa could hear or see.</p> - -<p>He thought of Bjönn’s strange behaviour,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> -how he came back to nose his beard. And he -remembered the night before he left Lynx -Hut, when he was remelting the Swede’s -Bullet, how strangely Bjönn stared at him, -whimpering as if in the full knowledge of -something evil.... However, such things -were not worth noticing.</p> - -<p>Rauten had not moved the length of a mouse -while Bjönn was away.</p> - -<p>Then the dog began to walk stiffly in front -of the elk, barking once or twice, and Rauten’s -peace was broken. He got on to his forelegs, -rose and stood still. Bjönn became eager, for -he knew that Gaupa was close by, and he could -not understand that it was difficult for his -master to shoot in complete darkness.</p> - -<p>Gaupa heard the sharp crack of a twig, then -another. “There goes Rauten,” he thought.</p> - -<p>A little later he heard the antlers striking a -tree-trunk, and the dog’s bark came nearer, -eager and aggressive. “There is the elk -coming,” he thought.</p> - -<p>Over him the branches hung like a wide-meshed -net, a faint light from the sky penetrating -it. But the under-bush was so black -that he saw the trees only like vague shadows<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> -and in there the wizard elk was coming. -Listen! how the antlers rustle among the spruce -needles with a dry swishing sound, as when -you sweep the floor of the hut with a broom!</p> - -<p>Gaupa did not stir, but clasped his hands -round his gun in trembling excitement. He -sat immovable like an animal in its night lair, -his eyes burning as if they would burn a hole -in the darkness enveloping him.</p> - -<p>Both beasts were close by and below him. -Once he thought he saw a large shadow glide -past down there, but he was not sure. He -heard the dog throw himself aside and -Rauten’s heavy steps. But he could not, could -not see him.</p> - -<p>Slowly Bjönn withdrew a little, following the -wizard elk.</p> - -<p>Gaupa crawled after them on all-fours, -slowly, slowly. He was so close after them -that he surely could have thrown his gun at -the elk, if there had been light enough, and it -seemed to him that he was crawling at the -bottom of a black lake with the tree-tops -floating on the surface of the water.</p> - -<p>Then Rauten stopped and the dog’s barking -grew rhythmic. Gaupa dragged himself ward<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> -on his stomach, and in a glade he caught -sight of Bjönn, a dark bundle which glided here -and there over the earth. But the elk, the elk?</p> - -<p>He did not dare to move farther, and -remained where he was, “The Tempest” -ready. Over the western ridges the starry sky -was sparkling.</p> - -<p>Little by little Bjönn calmed down, till -finally he remained on the same spot, and from -the direction of his head Gaupa guessed whereabouts -Rauten must be. For a long time he -had been looking for something showing up -like antlers against the sky between two tree-trunks, -and he was only waiting to see that -something move.... It did move, quite -distinctly, and Gaupa lifted the barrel of his -gun towards the sky, then lowered it towards -the antlers, then far enough down to hit the -body—and then the Swede’s bullet left the -mouth of “The Tempest.”</p> - -<p>The splitting flame from the gun sent a -broad beam of light across the glade where -Bjönn stood. And in front of the dog Gaupa -saw as if in a flash of lightning the head of -Rauten above some bushes. The head was -lifted high, large eyes staring, and the half ear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> -stood out very clearly.... Then darkness -came again. Not a sound, no heavy thud of -an elk falling, no eager dog’s bark.</p> - -<p>Gaupa was half blinded from the sudden -change from glaring light to absolute darkness. -He listened for the well-known dry crackle of -fleeing elk’s hoofs, but it did not come.</p> - -<p>Then his ears caught the sound of something -astir close in front of him. It could not be -Rauten dying, for he would surely have heard -him falling.</p> - -<p>He struck a match, and at that moment a -cock grouse chattered furiously somewhere up -south—a coldly mocking guffaw like the -laughter of a lunatic. If the grouse chattered -in the middle of the night it must have been -roused by the elk, therefore Rauten must be -far away already. But what, then, was that -which moved before his feet?</p> - -<p>The match went out, there was a draught in -the air. He scratched another, there was a -swish along the box, a tiny explosion, and a -little fire was born and burnt uncertainly -within the hollow of his hand. Two spruces -stood within the circle of the light, staring -with wonder as if they had just awakened and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> -wanted to know what kind of tiny sun was -dancing on the ground.</p> - -<p>Gaupa went forward to some yellow moss, -that showed elk spoors. But in the middle -of the glade Bjönn lay on one side. His eyes -blinked a little at the light from the match, -but there was in them something strained -which Gaupa did not recognise. He knelt -down beside the dog, stroking him and talking -to him, but Bjönn took no notice, and his -flanks laboured so strangely and quickly.</p> - -<p>Gaupa lit another match and saw blood on -Bjönn’s hair a little behind the left shoulder. -He felt with his hand, which became wet. -The dog started to open his mouth as if to -yawn—and he gaped, and he gaped, and -never finished.</p> - -<p>“Bjönn!” Gaupa whispered—“my own -dog!”</p> - -<p>But Bjönn only gaped.</p> - -<p>Gaupa understood what had happened. -The Swede’s bullet had struck the elk’s antler -and was shattered, one bit of lead ricochetting -and hitting the dog.</p> - -<p>“Bjönn! Don’t you hear me, Bjönn?” -he whispered once more half beseechingly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-185.jpg" width="400" height="545" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span></p> -<p> </p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span></p> - -<p>Oh no, Bjönn could not hear anything any -more now. He began to nod his head in a -strange way, something gurgled in his throat. -A large tear leapt out of the dog’s eye and -rolled down over the grey muzzle. The dog -stretched himself. He was tired of the endless -chase. He wanted to rest.</p> - -<p>The last thing Bjönn from Lynx Hut did in -his life was to stretch himself.</p> - -<p class="p2">A man was sitting with a dead dog on his -knees. It happened on Bog Hill in Ré -Valley. The murmur of the river sounded -steady and calm, like the very breath of night.</p> - -<p>Gaupa thought of the Swede’s Bullet. It -concealed strange powers; it had travelled -through a body before, and it knew its way. -Why, oh why, then, did it take away the only -friend, the only child he possessed? It would -be small comfort walking down to Lower -Valley in the morning.</p> - -<p>Gaupa waited for the dawn. Bjönn seemed -so strangely heavy on his knees. He felt how -the warmth of life slowly left the soulless -body of the dog, remembered what the two -had shared of better things and worse throughout<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> -the years, and the tears fell fast down -Gaupa’s unkempt face.</p> - -<p>Daylight came. In his arms he carried -Bjönn to a heap of rocks tenderly as a mother -carries her sleeping baby to bed.</p> - -<p>He displaced some pieces of rock, and when -he laid Bjönn down there he felt that he was -burying some of his joy in life. He sat down, -his shoulders heaving.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-188.jpg" width="400" height="235" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<p>When did Gaupa weep last? He did not -remember. It was long ago, long, long ago.</p> - -<p>Day broke over Ré Valley.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span></p> - - -<p class="pch">§ 26</p> - -<p>Time floated over the wilderness.</p> - -<p>In summer it is warm, in winter cold. -Three days before Christmas the sun ceases -to descend lower in the sky, rises again, and -after a long while he starts work on a fresh -spring down on earth.</p> - -<p>Through half the year the lakes lie with -their eyes closed, for half a year they mirror -the sunset. The rivers stiffen when the -immigrating birds go south. While the bear -dreams in his winter lair, the trees stand bloodless, -breaking in the frost. But when the -living ploughshares of the wild geese go northwards -once more, then the trees spread out all -their branches, embracing life.</p> - -<p>Such is time, when beasts are born, eat, and -die. Such was time when Rauten went -towards old age.</p> - -<p>His body followed the all-subduing law of -nature. At Candlemass time he lost his -antlers, which invariably grew out again, -every time with more tines. When the leaves -fell he roared his hoarse mating call at dusk and -at dawn. In the summer nights his huge,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> -dark body would glide through the forest out -to Gipsy Lake where the snow-white waterlilies -were floating.</p> - -<p>On some clear, cruel, frosty winter night he -would perhaps stand on guard beside a soft-eyed -cow and a calf that was his own flesh -and blood. Then Venus, queen of the starry -heavens, would glow large and bright above -Ré Mountains, lending a pale shimmer to the -white snow. The Aurora Borealis would -shine bright and strange, then the breath from -the elks’ nostrils would smoke in the night.</p> - -<p>When once in a while Rauten lay on Black -Mountain looking out across the forest, all -the happenings of which his life was so rich -would stir within him. Probably he did not -remember, not live his reminiscences once -more in his mind. We do not know about -that. But each remarkable incident had set -its mark in him in the shadowy life of his soul. -They had sharpened his instincts, enriched his -experience. There were incidents at all times -of the year, in all changing lights of day and -night, in sunny heat and in frosty weather—some -concerning animals, some human beings.</p> - -<p>But he grew solitary and still more solitary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> -as age came on. He sought places where man -but rarely made spots on the earth with his -shoes of animals’ hide, where the steel tooth -of the axe but rarely gnawed a tree, where old -times were still dreaming.</p> - -<p>For the Ré Valley woods began to be open. -Foresters’ huts grew out of the earth, creating -unrest. Old trees died, changed their existence, -and left Ré Valley. Their stumps -stayed, time and weather eating them as -ravens eat carrion.</p> - -<p>Many a dog had chased Rauten, but their -muzzles grew grey and their eyes blue, and one -day the barrel of a gun blew out their lives. And -still Rauten walked across Black Mountains.</p> - -<p class="p2">But what of Gaupa?</p> - -<p>He also aged; he aged rapidly when Bjönn -died. For after that time he lost his love of -the woods somehow, and then he seemed to -shrink within himself.</p> - -<p>Soon he was no longer a wild cat, he became -a tame, domestic cat. No more his fire shone -at the capercailzie’s play in the blue spring -evenings when the song thrush was silent in -the tree-tops and flew away for the night. A<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> -sleepy petroleum lamp shone dully in Lynx -Hut, where the air was not light and pure as -drifted snow, but stank of leather and old footwear.</p> - -<p>He felt as if something had died within him. -His mind was like an everlasting rainy day, -monotonous, without a gleam of sun. No -more tumults, only silence and death, his mind -was luke-warm like marsh water.</p> - -<p>Gaupa was not well either. He needed but -to drink three or four cups of coffee one after -the other to make his heart unmanageable. -It would not keep time, but beat eagerly and -quickly, and then it lagged, nearly stopped as -if lame.... Well, well, that heart had seen -hard days, as well he knew.</p> - -<p>Gaupa’s calves grew full of small bulbs -under his skin from varicose veins. And -then rheumatism came. Working in his shop -he could feel the rheumatism, like fine red-hot -wires being stitched into his body. It was -worst in his knees, for there something was -gnawing, gnawing like sharp teeth, everlastingly -hungry. Well, well, you know those -calves and those knees had been through some -hard work in his life.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span></p> - -<p>Once somebody asked him to go to a doctor, -but then Gaupa guffawed in mocking merriment.</p> - -<p>Alas, there was small comfort in Lynx Hut -now. No Bjönn came to place his head on his -knees while he was stitching shoes, no Bjönn -met him with tail waving in the open door -when he had been out and came home, no -Bjönn shared his bed under the sheepskin -covering in the night. When he woke up -at night he caught himself listening for the -dog’s breath, for Bjönn used to breathe so -heavily, so humanly. Gaupa remembered so -well.</p> - -<p>When he was seventy years old he was converted. -After that time the poor old soul would -often sit in one of the foremost desks in the -schoolhouse, piously listening to what Hans -Uppermeadow, the “high priest,” had to -announce. He would sit there in his simple -blue-striped celluloid collar without a tie. -That was the only Sunday best he possessed, -and no one knew when last it was washed.</p> - -<p>Somehow revivalism did not quite submerge -him, for he could not help thinking of other -things while the preacher up there threatened<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span> -his audience with hell and sulphur. It might, -for instance, occur to him that the moustache -of that fellow was the very spit of the other’s -whiskers, and in a bound Gaupa’s thoughts -were far from the schoolroom and its close -atmosphere. No, he could not get the real -hang of the revivalist business, and before he -entered upon his seventy-second year he gave -it up and became a worldling once more.</p> - -<p>Only he ceased to swear, and when religious -people were with him he might be heard to -talk of how quietly time passed down here. -Sometimes he would even sigh audibly.</p> - -<p>Poor old Gaupa! He was in earnest right -enough. He was no Pharisee. Yet his conscience -was never quite easy; he was not -regularly “saved,” and when his heart started -beating out of time he would feel as timid as -a hare!</p> - -<p>One day he was at Rust helping with some -wood-cutting. He went to feed the horses in -the evening, and remained in the stable so -long that Halstein began to wonder and -went in.</p> - -<p>There lay Gaupa senseless after a blow from -the young black mare. There was a hole in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> -his skull, and Halstein saw the brain matter -pulsating.</p> - -<p>It was a strange thing, but Gaupa recovered. -He was in bed at Rust for a long time, but -as soon as he could walk to his own hut he -demanded it, and after six months he was very -much as before.</p> - -<p>One day about Easter time the sheriff, who -lived some two miles to the south, saw Gaupa -hatless coming across his yard with a long -knife in his hand. He wondered a little, and -in a moment the maid came rushing into his -office and begged him to go out into the -kitchen, for Gaupa must have lost his wits.</p> - -<p>The sheriff went. There was Gaupa. His -hair had withered at the top of his head so -that he was quite bald. He wore a blue blouse, -and in his right hand he held his knife, shining, -freshly sharpened. Yet Gaupa was an -exceptionally good-tempered man.</p> - -<p>“Good morning, sheriff. I’ve come to -skin him. Where do you keep him?”</p> - -<p>The sheriff did not understand, but noticed -that the corners of Gaupa’s mouth worked harder -than ever. “St. Vitus’s dance,” he thought.</p> - -<p>“Skin him, d’you say?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Yes, of course; don’t you remember I -shot the wizard elk in your woods yesterday? -I carted him home, large and whole.”</p> - -<p>He pointed the knife straight at the sheriff, -till the latter felt the blade like a cold pang -through his body.</p> - -<p>“This knife,” Gaupa went on, “has tasted -Rauten once before, and still it is sharp -enough to manage the skinning of the elk. -Where do you keep him? Eh?”</p> - -<p>The sheriff understood that Gaupa’s mind -was queer, and he made believe that everything -was as Gaupa said.</p> - -<p>“Oh yes,” he replied; “I’ll find him for -you soon enough, but you will have a drink -first, won’t you?”</p> - -<p>Certainly, Gaupa would like a drink; he -had one drink, and then another. By that -time he forgot his errand and went quietly -home to Lynx Hut.</p> - -<p>Two days later he went to Lyhus and -behaved in exactly the same manner. There -was no gainsaying the fact that the day before -he had shot Rauten and drove him, in all his -bulk, to the farm, so that everyone might see the -wizard elk. And now he had come to skin him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span></p> - -<p>From that time Gaupa was out of his mind. -People guessed it was a result from that blow -from the horse’s hoof, which seemed probable -enough.</p> - -<p>Every once in a while he would go to a -farm to skin an elk he had shot in their forest, -and if only they agreed and said he ought to -have the drink due before such a work was -undertaken, or they offered him food, he could -generally be talked away from his purpose, so -that he forgot all about skinning.</p> - -<p>The authorities attempted to lodge him at -some farm, but Gaupa simply walked home to -Lynx Hut, where he would sit busy with his -awl and his waxed thread, working quite -decently.</p> - -<p>But the urchins found great fun in going up -to him and showing him a naked knife, for as -soon as he saw it he would start telling the story -of the elk calf on Black Mountain slopes, -always in the same manner, nearly in the same -words. He never told anything else than that -he cut half an ear from the calf, never anything -more detailed about Rauten after the elk had -grown up. If they asked him they could see -how he strove and strove to remember, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> -he was never sure. It was always the same -story again and again, how he held the calf -between his knees, and when he finished they -would hear him mumbling something no one -understood except one single word: “Beast, -beast.”</p> - -<p>Later on he imagined he had killed an -animal he called Golden Bear. Then he went -down the valley to the rich forest owners, to -their grand farms with red storehouses and -white dwellings with glass balls on the top of -their flag-poles, shining like silver in the -sunlight. And then Gaupa never stopped till -he got speech with the great men themselves, -for he could buy their woods and their farms -and everything they possessed. They might -have their payment in cash and the price was -of no consideration, for he had killed the -Golden Bear.</p> - -<p>Thus fared Gaupa, the elk-killer, in the -evening of his life.</p> - -<p class="pch">§ 27</p> - -<p>One spring Lynx Hut remained locked, at -first for days, then for weeks, then for ever. -Lynx Hut is still locked.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span></p> - -<p>They looked for Gaupa that spring, every -one in the Valley who could crawl in -forest or mountain. The sheriff donned his -uniform cap, used the law and ordered -people out. A long chain of men zig-zagged -across the Lower Valley slopes, east of the -river and west of the river. But no Gaupa -was found.</p> - -<p>What little he possessed was put to auction. -His cobbling tools were scattered over the -valley as if by a gust of wind. Martin Lyhus -bought “The Tempest.”</p> - -<p>I visited Lynx Hut some years ago. It was -empty, with naked walls. A hole gaped in -the brickwork of the chimney where the stove -flue had once gone in, and the window sill -was strewn with dead flies. I found a dried-up -squirrel on the hearth. The little animal -had, I suppose, climbed down the chimney -and been unable to climb up, finally lying down -mouth open for the food which should have -kept it alive.</p> - -<p>But also I found something else.</p> - -<p>In a corner lay a dog’s collar of coarse -leather. It had a shiny buckle and the inside -of the leather was worn smooth. In the collar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> -was sewn with white cobbler’s thread the name -“Bjönn.”</p> - -<p>The man who unlocked Lynx Hut to me -was so white of hair that he seemed to carry -fresh snow on his head. He wore a waistcoat -with silver buttons, and his name was Halstein -Rust. It was he who in the autumn after -Gaupa’s disappearance went to the relief -officer in Lower Valley and told him what he -had found above Gipsy Lake out in Ré Valley. -It was also Halstein Rust who told me of -Gaupa and Bjönn and the wizard elk, Rauten.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-011.jpg" width="400" height="86" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<p>To-day a cross stands alternately in sun and -shade outside the tar-soaked wall of Lower -Valley Church. Under that cross rests the -body of Halstein Rust. But I clearly remember -the evening when the white-haired man -sat before me, crooked, trembling fingers -pointing southwards towards Ré Valley, and -telling me how Gaupa’s life ended.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span></p> - -<p class="pch">§ 28</p> - -<p>That spring there were masses of snow in -the mountains. First mild weather came in -March and afterwards the frost lasted till far -into May, then the weather changed suddenly, -the air vibrating with sunny heat from morning -till night.</p> - -<p>The tributary rivers became roaring mad -in a few days, Lower River went greenish -yellow like ale, lifting timber jams of hundreds -of logs, sweeping them along, sucking them -on in their mad rush, until the logs would -float peacefully into the big lake two leagues -to the south.</p> - -<p>The birch buds opened in a night. In the -morning the trees were thickly covered with -what looked like green butterflies. A strong -perfume filled the steaming air.</p> - -<p>It was late at night, the distant hills were -blue. The northern sky was smouldering, a -soft tone of sweet sadness rose from the fiery -heavens, lulling the senses, like the melody of -soft, slowly rolling waves. The people of -Lower Valley were asleep.</p> - -<p>A belated snipe flew chirping over Lynx -Hut.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span></p> - -<p>Gaupa came out, locked his door, and put -the key in his pocket. He carried a knapsack, -and took out a pair of skis. He remained -there as if making sure in his thought that -nothing was forgotten. But his ideas were -confused, lacking strength to arrange themselves -in any definite order, and Gaupa went -towards the River with skis on his shoulder -and a sack on his back, but his rifle hung peacefully -on the wall inside Lynx Hut.</p> - -<p>In the darkness of that May night a man -walked on the crusted snow on the slopes -towards Ré Valley. The skis made a dry -grating sound on the snow crust, the man -breathed quickly and heavily, and rested -sadly often. He grew so very thirsty, and -every once in a while he lay down at some -brooklet and drank the water from the melting -snow.</p> - -<p>After midnight the snow crust became stone -hard. The man went south along the flat -marshes near Ré River, and for such an old -man he went remarkably quickly. Gaupa -had not in vain been the man who used to show -everybody else his back both walking and -running.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span></p> - -<p>About two o’clock the door of Gipsy Lake -Hut groaned, and on the hard wooden seat -where Gaupa and Bjönn used to rest side by -side after many a sweat dripping day Gaupa -lay alone, after many years.</p> - -<p>Strangely enough, that night his brain -cleared. He felt as if he had awakened from -sleep, and without making a fire he lay, looking -backwards in time.</p> - -<p>He had lived his life as he himself wanted it, -poor in possessions, but rich in happenings. -Throughout all the years he could remember -there blew a cold breeze from windworn trees -and naked mountains. His memories stood -out like bright flowers, smelling sweetly of -heather and moss. Best of all he remembered -the three days’ chase after Rauten, Bjönn’s -last chase. Even that time the rumour was -true. Bad luck had followed on Rauten’s -heels.</p> - -<p>Gaupa heard a wood-cock swishing by Gipsy -Lake. Then all was silence again.</p> - -<p>A little later an owl started hooting in the -trees outside the hut, and to Gaupa the hooting -seemed to come out from the walls, from the -ceiling, from the floor.... The owl is a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> -sinister bird and predicts death, and Gaupa -felt quite creepy listening to the sound of the -voice. He opened the door and peeped up -in the half light between the trees. The bird -was silent then, but he could not see it. Yet -as soon as he lay down the bird’s voice was -heard again, sad, wailing, almost like broken -notes of a dirge. The tune never rose, never -sank, always keeping the same level.</p> - -<p>He went out many times to frighten it -away, and although that bird sat just above the -roof, he was quite unable to see it; he could -almost believe it was a spirit sitting aloft, -trying to tell him something.</p> - -<p>Day sent a grey square of light through the -open door on to the floor of Gipsy Lake Hut. -Darkness crept into the corners and hid there.</p> - -<p>Then suddenly and unexpectedly the old -man jerked his head, steadied his hands against -the bench, and half rose. His eyes lost the -film of deadness they had had lately and had -become keen.</p> - -<p>Through the open door he heard the crush, -crush, crush of the snow crust shattering under -steps heavy enough to break it.</p> - -<p>Gaupa knew the snow crust to be hard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> -enough to carry a man, even a heavy one. -He rose on his feet and stood in the door, -crouching a little, both hands holding on to -the lintel above his head.</p> - -<p>Crush, crush, crush! he heard from a little -mound covered with young trees, just beyond -the clearing in front of the hut. Then the -sound stopped as if cut off, and the silence -afterwards was filled with the boiling rumble -from the heath cocks in the marsh by the lake. -The owl was silent.</p> - -<p>What came over him? Was he afraid? -He almost looked like it. His eyes grew keen, -staring. His mouth opened, showing his -gums with all his teeth still, brown from -chewing tobacco.</p> - -<p>An elk’s head rose from the bushes on the -mound, and Gaupa gave a startled sob.</p> - -<p>“Rauten!” he whispered, and his excited -face showed everything but fear. It was like -the yell from an old, half-blind deer-hound -who unexpectedly finds big game, a yell of -exultation, a dying fire flaming up.</p> - -<p>The elk’s head turned abruptly, a long back -floated over the bushes, and once more the -snow crust crashed where Rauten ran.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span></p> - -<p>Gaupa turned back to the hut. “The -Tempest,” “The Tempest,” his thoughts were -wailing. But the rifle was at home in Lynx -Hut, rusty with years of disuse.</p> - -<p>He was running about on the floor of the -hut, his eyes seeking a weapon, anything that -could be used for taking life—murmuring all -the time: “Sure it is the wizard elk, sure it is -the wizard elk!”</p> - -<p>Then his hand happened to touch his -dagger, hanging at his right-hand side; the -touch reminded him of something, and he -stopped. He wrenched out the knife, his feet -stole quickly across the floor and through the -doorway. Shortly afterwards the old man -was running on the hard snow, stooping, bareheaded, -in his blouse, and with long, homespun -trousers flapping round his legs.</p> - -<p>Before him were the elk spoors, deep holes -straight through the rough snow crust, the -bottom of them showing the wide-apart hoofs -of Rauten, and the grains of snow in the holes -were like pearls.</p> - -<p>Gaupa saw how the bits of broken snow -crust had flown under the elk’s hoofs, and -once more he was the old Gaupa. Body and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span> -soul were taken back across the years. He was -no longer a rheumatic old cripple running -bareheaded towards the rise of the sun, knife -in hand. No, he was a man with playing -muscles and foaming blood, a shaggy savage -who hunted an animal to eat it and to clothe -himself in its skin.</p> - -<p>The snow crust was so hard that he ran as -if on a floor, the sound of his steps was only a -slight scratching as from a lynx’s claws in -bark. He heard the wizard elk just in front, -the beast sinking into the snow till under its -belly, and inside him was the song that here -was Rauten, Rauten! while audibly he mumbled, -“I’ve got him now, I’ve got him now.”</p> - -<p>Above the spring-black woods of Ré Valley, -the mountains foamed like white waterfalls. -In the east the rosy dawn glowed, sending a -breath of whitish yellow before her on the sky -which in farthest west was still deep-sea blue.</p> - -<p>There was Black Mountain with its white -head, and the forest down its breast like a -shaggy beard. Just such a May morning it -was when Black Mountain first saw the little -elk calf that was to become Rauten.</p> - -<p>Now Black Mountain saw something different.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> -On the marsh east of Gipsy Lake an elk -bull was plunging heavily in the crusted snow. -He tried to leap, but could not. He sank -through as if falling at each step and he looked -strangely short-legged.</p> - -<p>But on the back of that elk sat a man....</p> - -<p>Now both Rauten and Gaupa, “The -Lynx,” were animals, one born in and of the -forest, the other a human being restored to the -animal state by the forest. He sat astride of -the elk, feeling its lean, sharp back between -his legs. His nostrils were full of the scent -of game, and he inhaled it and grew drunk -from it, like a beast of prey. His hands held -on to the mane and one of them held the knife. -He lay forwards along Rauten’s neck as if -wanting to bite the elk’s throat. Under his -nose his beard bristled like feline whiskers.</p> - -<p>The marsh was empty again, the elk spoor -marking it like a deep scar, and the trees about -it seemed to wonder at what they had just seen.</p> - -<p>But in the copses to the south the crash of -the elk’s hoofs could be heard, and there was -Rauten forcing his way, half mad with terror. -Every step was an effort, the man on his back -and the difficult snow both increased his fear. -He wanted to throw the man off. He strained -his body till muscles and sinews groaned inside -him, but the snow crust was ever faithless; -as soon as his hoofs were on the ground, the -weight of his body following, the snow crust -broke like brittle ice. No matter however -much he willed, willed to go forwards, faster, -faster—he could not, it was useless.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-209.jpg" width="400" height="570" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span></p> -<p> </p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span></p> - -<p>The bushes waved around him, hitting -Gaupa’s face till it smarted and he closed his -eyes for fear of being blinded. Just before -him he saw the ear that was only half an ear. -He saw fur had grown where the knife once -cut. He noticed also that the antlers were -growing out again after the winter’s moulting. -They were covered with fur.</p> - -<p>Rauten’s breathing was laboured, long and -hissing like bellows in a smithy.</p> - -<p>Then Gaupa let go one hand from the -elk’s mane, the hand rose, slowly at first, then -darting like a flame, and a newly ground -knife’s edge drew a shiny line across the dark -forest. The knife stopped above Gaupa’s -head, then sank like lightning. It sank into -the elk’s back, deep up to the haft.</p> - -<p>Rauten opened his mouth a little, also his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> -eyes, but did not even groan, only took a few -leaps out of the undergrowth to a more open -place where the sun had been more powerful -so that there was less snow. Two weather-grey -stumps ran out of it like long tusks.</p> - -<p>“Akk,” said a capercailzie hen, wide awake -and warning—“Akk, akk!” A capercailzie -cock had finished his play, a neck stretched out -from the brown-flecked pine branches, and his -wings beat the air noisily when he rose.</p> - -<p>Rauten staggered forwards, Gaupa on his -back. Gaupa had a piece of chewing tobacco -in his mouth. It was caught between his -clenched teeth and a brown juice ran out of -the corners of his mouth down into his beard. -He caught the knife out of the elk’s back and -swung it aloft once more. But it drew no -shiny line this time, it was wet. Once more -it sank into Rauten’s body while Gaupa spat -out the words:</p> - -<p>“Take that for Bjönn.”</p> - -<p>The same knife met Rauten with the first -rays of day on the morning he was born on -Black Mountain slopes. The blade was worn -and narrow now, but fate decreed that it should -sit in Rauten’s body at his death-leap east of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span> -Gipsy Lake. Perhaps they knew, the dull-red -sunbeams which that morning, so many -years ago, stroked their warm hands over the -little calf bidding him welcome to life and to -the forest.</p> - -<p>But now Rauten had lived his life. Trees -and grass, air and water had given him of their -own, which they now claimed back. Rauten -was old; over his melancholy head the sunset -was dead. He was entering on the long night -which never is awakened by a dawn in the east.</p> - -<p>He had created a number of elks, most of -them gone before him into the land of shadows. -Now his turn had come to follow them. The -Ré Valley woods had no more use for him. -His legs were stiff and his steps short. No -longer was he a roaring storm at mating time. -His muscles sang no more wild songs from -bottomless depths of forces; his life was on -the ebb, and no flood would rise in him again.</p> - -<p class="pch">§ 29</p> - -<p>That morning a marten sat crouching in a -spruce tree near Gipsy Lake. The marten -might tell what happened.</p> - -<p>That morning a broad-winged eagle soared<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span> -round and round above Ré Valley. The -eagle also might tell what happened.</p> - -<p>Rauten ran out on a southwards slope where -the snow was partly gone. He hardly saw -anything; Gaupa’s knife was diving voluptuously -into him. But terror paralysed his -nerves so that he hardly felt any pain.</p> - -<p>When the elk and the man ran the small -bushes nodded after them. But the old trees -were indifferent to what happened. Everything -was as it should be. The old trees had -seen the bear pawing the elk’s skull, had seen -the adder swallowing live mice. Life takes life. -Thus it was when night first dewed the grass, -as long as stars have twinkled in the heavens.</p> - -<p>While Rauten leapt down that slope the -wind slipped in under Gaupa’s blue-striped -blouse, making it bulge out at the back. He -rode on intoxicated, far away from everything -and everybody. He gave vent to a long yell, -old man that he was, and the yell sank into -the spring-time roar from Ré River and was -swallowed up by it.</p> - -<p>Almost blind, the wizard elk rushed down -a precipice, about three or four times the -height of a man, sliding with legs stretched out<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> -and back straight. Gaupa pressed his knees -against the elk’s flanks with all his might, but -could not keep his seat. He slid forwards -along the neck, found the antlers and hung on. -The elk’s hoofs tore away patches of moss, -disturbing a small stone which became a living -thing and jumped down; a jay perched on a -tree on that rock started a thin piping as if -bewailing the scene it saw. High up under -a small cloud red with sunlight the eagle -soared easily in the air. Then he screamed, -long and hungrily.</p> - -<p>Rauten found firm earth below the rocky -wall; he nearly fell forwards with the shock, -but managed to keep his balance. Gaupa did -not let go of the antlers, but his legs slipped off -from the elk’s body and turned a somersault, -his soles high up towards the sky, as if he -wished to kick the tree-tops in play. Then -he lost his hold on the antlers, turned over the -elk’s muzzle and lay on the snow, his knife still -in his hand.</p> - -<p>The wizard elk lifted one foreleg. Gaupa -saw it, a helpless look in his eyes. An icy-cold -blast ran through him, before he rose to -his knees. The light-grey elk’s leg was lifted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> -still higher, stopped in the air for a tiny -moment, and then fell rapidly. It hit Gaupa -between his shoulder-blades. Daylight was -extinguished for him as suddenly as when a -candle is blown out. With incredible speed -he rushed into empty space, then began to -sink—down, down.</p> - -<p>Gaupa lay on his face, his left arm bent under -him, but the right hand which held the knife -was stretched out to one side. Then his -fingers loosened slowly from the curly maple -shaft, straightened out, and the knife lay loose -on the snow crust.</p> - -<p>Rauten lifted his leg for another blow, but -half-way up it became so heavy that he could -lift it no further, could not even hold it up. -It was as if Rauten thought better of it, as if he -believed that the man had had enough. He -remained standing, his eyes, soft as dusk, -staring sadly at Gaupa. Then he grew sleepy -and tired, strangely tired. His great head -nodded, nodded lower still, rose and nodded -again. Then it stiffened. There lay Rauten, -the wizard elk.</p> - -<p>The morning sun reached the tree-tops and -crept slowly down the trunks. Then reaching<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> -the earth it stole forwards as if nosing the man -and the elk curiously.</p> - -<p class="p2">The day was not different from many other -days.</p> - -<p>It was a day in May, when spring dwells -below in the great valleys, early flowers bloom, -and clouds sail across the blue sky.</p> - -<p>On the Ré Valley slopes dusk turned to -evening.</p> - -<p>For a little space there was silence.</p> - -<p>The jay said no more. A marten sat well -hidden in a spruce tree close by, his eyes -shining like raindrops among the needles. -Dawn lit copper-red fires on all the mountain -peaks.</p> - -<p>Then the snow crust crashed noisily below -that rocky wall on Gipsy Lake slope. Rauten -fell on his side. He did not move, but inside -him something bubbled with the sound of -hidden brooklets under the peat in a bog.</p> - -<p>Suddenly the great body curled up and -straightened out again just as suddenly.</p> - -<p>Gaupa and Rauten slept side by side, Rauten’s -head touching Gaupa’s chest as if the -animal wished to rest with him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span></p> - -<p>In the snow beside them red flowers seemed -to bloom.</p> - -<p>Summer must have come to Ré Valley very -early that year.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-218.jpg" width="400" height="445" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="pc4 reduct"><i>Printed in Great Britain by Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ld., -London and Aylesbury.</i></p> - - - - -</div> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Trail of the Elk, by Mikkjel Fonhus - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAIL OF THE ELK *** - -***** This file should be named 51771-h.htm or 51771-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/7/7/51771/ - -Produced by Giovanni Fini, Donald Cummings, Bryan Ness and -the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive/American -Libraries.) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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